Avian flu knocking at India`s doors

[Snowy Owl]

Avian flu knocking at India`s doors
Surinder Sud / New Delhi February 15, 2007
http://www.business-standard.com/economy/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=274760&subLeft=1&leftnm=3

<table class="TableClas" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr> <td>The highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu), caused by the dreaded H5N1 virus, is inching closer to India�s borders. Confirmed cases of bird flu have been reported from Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Mansehra in Pakistan. </td></tr> <tr> <td height="5"> </td></tr> <tr> <td>Home-reared chicken and peacocks in these areas have tested positive for H5N1 influenza virus. There is, however, no report of this disease in poultry farms as yet. </td></tr> <tr> <td height="5"> </td></tr> <tr> <td>Pakistan has formally informed the World Organisation for Animal Health about the outbreak of bird flu in these areas from February 4. The infection, believed to have come from migratory birds moving south from Siberia, has resurfaced in Pakistan almost a year after it was successfully controlled in January-February last year. </td></tr> <tr> <td height="5"> </td></tr> <tr> <td>India has so far been free from this disease and the chances of import of this virus from Pakistan through trade channels are minimal as the country does not buy any poultry products from Pakistan. </td></tr> <tr> <td height="5"> </td></tr> <tr> <td>But the threat of introduction of the infection through the wild birds flying across the country�s long border with Pakistan cannot be totally ruled out, animal health experts believe. </td></tr> <tr> <td height="5"> </td></tr> <tr> <td>The danger is all the more real because the infection has been detected in free-range birds who regularly come in contact with wild birds. </td></tr> <tr> <td height="5"> </td></tr> <tr> <td>The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) had recently reported resurgence of the bird flu virus since the beginning of 2007 and had cautioned all countries to remain vigilant. It had confirmed the detection of H5N1 cases in at least 8 countries in Asia and Africa. </td></tr></tbody></table>​

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[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Avian flu knocking at India`s doors

Welcome to the forum Tika.

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[sharon sanders]

Re: Avian flu knocking at India`s doors

Welcome Tika.

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Avian flu knocking at India`s doors

Welcome to FT Tika.

 

[Snowy Owl]

Re: Avian flu knocking at India`s doors

India heedless as avian flu spreads in Pak
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=275205&leftnm=3&subLeft=0&chkFlg=
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<TABLE class=TableClas cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=author>Surinder Sud / New Delhi February 20, 2007</TD></TR><TR><TD height=4></TD></TR><TR><TD style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(/images/common/gn_005.gif); BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat-x"></TD></TR><TR><TD height=9></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=TableClas cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Poultry experts feel that the threat of recurrence of the dreaded bird flu is not yet over though it is too late to take any preventive action now. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=5> </TD></TR><TR><TD>?The risk of bird flu outbreak could have been averted by vaccinating all the birds on the major routes followed by migratory birds in flying back. But such a measure now would not work as it takes 6 to 8 weeks for the immunity to develop after vaccination?, said Poultry Federation of India (PFI) chief Shashi Kapur. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=5> </TD></TR><TR><TD>?Now, we can only pray for the country to remain unaffected by this malady,? he added. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=5> </TD></TR><TR><TD>Highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu), caused by contagious H5N1 virus, has resurfaced in several countries, including neighbouring Pakistan, since the beginning of 2007. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=5> </TD></TR><TR><TD>This has caused global concern over the potential losses to the poultry sector as well as the danger of the H5N1 virus mutating into a form that can afflict human beings with a flu pandemic. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=5> </TD></TR><TR><TD>In Pakistan, H5N1 infection was recently detected among the household poultry birds and peacocks in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Mansehra areas. Migratory birds were believed to have been the source of this infection. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=5> </TD></TR><TR><TD>Though the disease has been more or less contained in these areas, further spread of the virus through wild birds is not ruled out. This has also posed a threat to India as the birds cannot be prevented from flying across the borders. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=5> </TD></TR><TR><TD>Kapur said the peak risk period for the appearance of bird flu in India was over as the migratory winged visitors had begun flying back. But the next 20 to 30 days were still critical, he maintained. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=5> </TD></TR><TR><TD>He said the PFI had repeatedly urged the government to take preventive steps by vaccinating the birds in the areas falling in the migratory routes. The government had not offered any reasons for not doing so. </TD></TR><TR><TD height=5> </TD></TR><TR><TD>The bird flu outbreak last year and the panic created by it among poultry consumers had crippled the poultry industry. The losses to the industry on this account were estimated at between Rs 15,000 crore and Rs 20,000 crore.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>​

 

[Laidback Al]

Rajasthan gears up for bird flu

Rajasthan gears up for bird flu

Rajasthan gears up for bird flu


By IANS, <!-- google_ad_section_start -->[RxPG] Jaipur, Feb 22 - Rajasthan, a haven for migratory birds, is gearing up to tackle bird flu after neighbouring Pakistan reported cases of the deadly virus.

'We are watching the situation closely and have asked the poultry industry to take certain protective measures,' said Prabhulal Saini, Rajasthan's agriculture minister.

'At present, there is no reason to worry,' Saini told IANS.

Though no case of avian flu had been reported yet from any part of the state, the government had 'stepped up surveillance along the border and asked bird keepers to report any case of death or disease in any of the birds', the minister said.

According to Saini, surveillance teams comprising veterinary doctors and assistants had been constituted to visit poultry farms and places where migratory birds arrive. The teams are to submit their reports to the animal husbandry department on a day-to-day basis.

'Surveillance teams have started collecting blood samples at random in poultry farms.'

The highly pathogenic avian influenza -, caused by the contagious H5N1 virus, has resurfaced in several countries, including Pakistan, since the start of 2007.

Though the H5N1 infection in Pakistan was contained, a further spread of the virus through wild birds is not ruled out. This has also poses a threat to India.

Every year in winter, the desert state receives thousands of birds from all over the world. The Keoladeo bird sanctuary - once the royal hunting preserve of the princes of Bharatpur - usually gets 400 species of water birds. However, this time the numbers were less due to scarcity of water.

It is the birds migrating to India from other countries that are especially risky, say experts. The state also has a big poultry industry with over 6.3 million birds, of which Ajmer district accounts for over 2.5 million birds.

http://www.rxpgnews.com/indianhealthcare/Rajasthan-gears-up-for-bird-flu_16555.shtml