Bird flu infection in humans not ruled out

      New Delhi: The Government has not ruled out the possibility of the humans contracting the Avian Flu virus and said that there is a distinct possibility that some persons may have contracted a milder version of it in the affected areas. Speaking to reporters here today, Health Secretary P K Hota said that some human samples were being tested and the report would be given by tomorrow. Hota also said that no more reports of the poultry death has come so far from the bird flu infection.

    Meanwhile, two private news channels have reported that two people among the twelve of the patients under observation in Navapur have been confirmed of bird flu virus. However, the persons affected seem to be down with mild infection of the deadly virus as they were not showing symptoms of acute pneumonia and lung infection that are generally associated with the dangerous H5N1 strain of the Avian Flu virus. The two persons showing symptoms of bird flu have been isolated. But there has been no official confirmation of the virus yet. The blood samples of these people are now being tested at the National Institute of Virology in Pune. Earlier in the day, the Government ordered two new sophisticated tests for detecting the presence of bird flu virus which would reduce the considerably reduce the time taken to get the results of the tests. These new tests would provide result in matter of few hours rather than the days taken by the present methodology. Meanwhile, the culling operations went throughout the day in the radius of 10 Km around the Navapur area where the first cases of bird flu outbreak was reported and is expected that five lakhs more poultry is likely to be killed in the next few days. Special vaccination drives are in full swing and the health officials said that all poultry in the affected states would be checked and given certificates by district health officials. Special check posts have been erected on the Maharashtra-Gujarat border and all travelers are now being given a list of dos and don'ts to follow.

Culling of poultry extended from three to 10 km in Navapur

     Navapur (Maharashtra): Following the spread of bird flu, culling of chickens has been extended from three to 10 km radius of Navapur. The culling begins today. On Tuesday, birds that were detected with the disease were culled within three kms of the area. The Maharashtra Animal Husbandry Department sources informed about the completion of culling birds. Maharashtra Animal Husbandry Minister Anees Ahmed ordered for fresh culling to begin from today. Anees said that the culling in poultry farms is completed, the account books of the retailers will be scrutinised to have an idea about the losses suffered by the poultry owners and the retailers and has announced to give them compensation. Anees said that all the poultry farms in the outskirts of Navapur will be covered under the operation. Ahmed said, "Nobody`s farm has been spared for culling the affected birds including the farm of the Maharashtra Minister Surupsingh Naik. The operation continued till 10 pm on Tuesday and the aimed three kms area was covered and more than 1.5 lakh birds and eggs were culled. Door-to-door campaign was also carried out to detect any possible human infection. To keep track of the State Government's work, a Central health team was sent on Tuesday and will submit within its report in the next two days. The two-member central health team comprised Deepak Gupta, Additional Secretary (health) in government of India and Shiv Lal, director, National institute of communicable diseases. Anees said that to eradicate the virus completely a span of two- three months will be required. "But thankfully it has happened on the onset of summer when the virus does take more time to mutilate," said Anees.

Ghazipur poultry traders blame media for bird flu scare

     New Delhi/Nandurbar: Rows of poultry cages neatly stacked up in unending rows at Ghazipur, North India's largest wholesale poultry market, wait for their increasingly elusive buyers, as bird flu scared away retailers and consumers of poultry products. Amid the over-bearing stench of chicken and the din at the Ghazipur Wholesale Market on the outskirts of New Delhi, there is a vacuum of sorts, say traders. Most people are staying away from chicken after bird flu was first reported from Maharashtra on Saturday. Traders say television channels and the media are to blame for spreading waves of fear in other parts of the country when the flu was identified only in a small village of Maharashtra. "The whole problem has been created due to the media. Nobody is buying our chickens. Clients have become possessed by unfounded suspicions, our business is down and we are not getting any orders from our big clients. They have cancelled everything," said Mohammed Aalam, a poultry farmer, who has a stock of 20,000 chickens at his home in Haryana. Aalam said there were virtually no takers for chicken, even though prices have crashed over the last couple of days. On Wednesday, one kilo of chicken was retailing at nearly one-third of a dollar, which was earlier being sold at almost a dollar and above. There are others like Salim, who throw an open challenge to anyone to find out even a single infected bird from the Market. Meanwhile, medical teams began certification of chickens imported to New Delhi from other states. "There is no bird flu here and there are no such symptom here in Delhi. The chicken that comes here, at least in the market, is clear," said Girish Bhardwaj, Assistant Veterinary Surgeon of Delhi government.

     In Maharashtra's Nandurbar District, authorities started distributing compensation to poultry owners, whose birds were culled as precautionary measures. Poultry farmers were being given 40 rupees, a little less than a dollar, for every chicken they brought for cullint. On Wednesday, health workers culled thousands of birds in India as the nation awaited the first laboratory reports to see whether the bird flu virus had infected people. Adding to fears, there were reports of more sudden deaths of poultry elsewhere in the country. Twelve people have been quarantined in an isolation ward of a hospital in Navapur town in Maharashtra -- where the virus was found in poultry on Saturday. Those quarantined either had flu-like symptoms or were kept there as a precautionary measure. Blood samples from dozens of other people were also being tested, officials said. The initial results are expected later on Wednesday.

     Reports of thousands of poultry deaths poured in from pockets across the country, the latest from the southern Indian state of Karnataka where 16,000 dead chicken were found. Although early indications did not point to bird flu, officials were running more tests on samples from among the 16,000 to conclusively rule out the H5N1 virus. Bird flu has killed more than 90 people in seven countries since 2003. While the virus remains hard for people to catch, experts fear it could mutate and spread easily among people, triggering a pandemic that could bring economic chaos and overwhelm health services.

Madhya Pradesh High Court bans sale of poultry products

     Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh)/Rupendehi (Nepal): Madhya Pradesh High Court has banned the sale of poultry products till February 24 as India scrambles to contain the first outbreak of bird flu. The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued notices to the Federal and State Government and other respondents. It has stalled the sale of products of poultry farms till February 24. Reports of thousands of poultry deaths have been poured in from pockets across the India, the latest from the Karnataka where 16,000 dead chicken were found. Although early indications did not point to bird flu, officials were running more tests on samples from among the 16,000 to conclusively rule out the H5N1 avian influenza, an official said.

Bird flue scare in Nepal

     Kathmandu: The bird flue scare has hit neighbouring Nepal, which depends heavily on poultry imports from India. As precautionary measures, medicines are being sprayed and sanitized in the poultry farms in border town Rupendehi. However, farm owners have downplayed the scare saying that they are prepared to combat any eventuality. "We have very good quarantine act in Nepal implemented by Government and our associations. So we feel that we do not have the kind of fear though we are a neighbouring country. But we hope that we can cope with this problem. It is impossible for the disease to enter Nepal," a poultry farm owner, Keshav Bikram Kharka said. But, the shops selling chicken meat have a different story to tell. They are complaining that the bird flu in India has taken its toll on their daily sales. "They say that India has been affected by bird flu. Though Nepal is not affected yet but the sale of chicken has dropped considerably," a shopkeeper, Amrit said. Sales of poultry products have also fallen 25 to 30 percent in India since the outbreak was first reported on February 19.

Punjab collects samples from its poultry for bird flu

     Patiala/Pune: Health workers in Patiala culled birds on Wednesday to check for any bird flu in the northern region, which stands four in the poultry business. Punjab's health department has deputed its experts to collect samples from several poultry farms across the state to ensure that chickens are not infected. There were reports of more sudden deaths of poultry elsewhere in the country after India's first known outbreak of bird flu, was reported from Maharashtra. Twelve people have been quarantined in an isolation ward of a hospital in Navapur in Maharashtra, where the virus was found in poultry on Saturday. Those quarantined either had flu-like symptoms or were kept there as a precautionary measure.

    Health officials at Jalandhar's Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory said thought there was no scare but as a precautionary measure samples were being collected for tests. "We conducted post-mortem of few of the dead birds and found nothing. We also collected tissue, blood and all those things," said Darshan Kumar Goel, Poultry Pathologist. Punjab accounts for 700 million rupees of poultry production annually. Health workers wearing blue overalls, anti-viral masks and goggles have so far culled about 400,000 birds. Elsewhere health workers culled thousands of birds on Wednesday, as there were reports of more deaths of poultry elsewhere in the country. India has launched a door-to-door check for people with fever in the affected district in western India. Meanwhile, Anuradha Desai, President, Indian Poultry Association, said poultry business has been hit hard despite implementation of measures like culling and vaccination as most of the states had banned poultry from western Maharashtra. "It has been badly affected. Already, estimates say the losses have mounted to five to six billion rupees, and if the situation continues it will get worse. States are banning poultry products from other states as if they are from some other country. This will not augur well for the industry and in the coming days we are bound to see farmer suicides in this field also. Also, the birds will also begin to die because of the heat and their mortality rate will go up," Desai told reporters in Pune.

    Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Japan and several other Gulf countries have suspended poultry imports from India, including meat and eggs, to prevent the deadly H5N1 virus of avian influenza from spreading to domestic fowl in their country. Japan imported 1,655 tonnes of processed eggs from India last year, although imports of Indian poultry meat were negligible. The ban has come as a blow to the Indian poultry industry. Last November, the Poultry Federation of India said it had received orders for raw boneless poultry from Japan, which was looking for alternative suppliers after suspending poultry imports from major suppliers China and Thailand due to bird flu outbreaks in those countries. India's poultry production has been growing at an annual rate of 10 percent thanks to growth in local demand. Trade officials are expecting overseas sales to encourage more companies to set up plants to cater to the growing demand. India produces around 1.5 billion birds, about 44 billion eggs and about 13 million tonnes of poultry feed a year. Bird flu has killed more than 90 people in seven countries since 2003. While the virus remains hard for people to catch, experts fear it could mutate and spread easily among people, triggering a pandemic that could cause social and economic chaos.

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