90 bird flu surveillance teams for MP

       Burhanpur (Madhya Pradesh)/New Delhi: Health officials have undertaken monitoring of thousands of people for flu- like symptoms after the culling of 8,245 chickens completed in 23 villages of Madhya Pradesh today. Ninety teams have been sent to take stock of the commercial and backyard poultry in Madhya Pradesh's Burhanpur district, where a third outbreak of the deadly avian influenza was detected. "We have culled 8,245 chickens and the door-to-door mopping up exercise aimed at culling isolated birds in backyard poultry was being conducted," state Veterinary Services Commissioner Rajesh Rajora said. Around 31 teams were involved in the mopping up exercises which was being carried out along with a drive to disinfect 2,400 houses, he said, adding highly sensitive surveillance was being conducted in neighbouring areas to prevent spread of the disease. "Increasing numbers of bird flu cases in Jalgaon (in Maharashtra) have raised concerns and state borders at Barwani, Burhanpur, Khargone and Jhabua have been completely sealed off for transportation of poultry," he said.

      Meanwhile, culling of chickens countinued for the second consecutive day in Maharashtra's Jalgaon today. "Five hundred health workers are involved in the culling operation, which began last night under the supervision of top officials of animal husbandry from Pune and Aurangabad," District Collector Vijay Singhal said today. He said that the process of culling 2.1 lakh chickens would be completed in three days. Birds within a radius of 10 km. from each of the Jalgaon's Varad, Paldhi Khurd, Bhadgaon, Parola, Erandol and Uttaran villages would be culled. Further surveillance of the concerned area is continuing. Although India has tested scores of people in areas where chickens have tested positive for bird flu, it has not affected humans.

     Bird flu has delivered a massive blow to country's poultry trade. Shakil Sheikh, President of Maharashtra State Integrated Farmers Association, said that there were some signs of recovery in the poultry industry, but the latest outbreak has proved disastrous. He said that chicken sales are down by 60 percent and the industry is losing 2 billion rupees (45 million dollar) every day. Government appeals, advertisement campaigns and even press conferences by chicken-munching politicians and officials have not helped wean many Indians back to chickens. Chicken is a staple for meat-eaters in India, where beef and pork are not eaten for religious reasons or quality concerns. India has culled almost half a million birds so far. About 1.5 million eggs have been destroyed, thousands of people checked for bird flu and hundreds of villages sanitized. Chicken prices in most parts of India have halved to about 25 rupees (56 cents) per kg, cheaper than many vegetables. In Mumbai, some traders have cut prices to as low as one rupee per kg in protest against what they say is the government's failure to protect their losses. The Poultry Federation of India says that the orders worth four billion rupees have been cancelled since the first outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu. Reserve Bank of India has announced some relief for the poultry industry, including allowing a one-time reduction of four percentage points on bank loans and a moratorium of one year on loan repayments. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 186 people have been found infected with the H5N1 strain of bird flu worldwide. Of these, 105 have died so far. Millions of chickens and other birds have been culled in countries in Europe, Asia and Africa.

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