India: It?s Spreading

[Clytie]

How did virus get to India?

How did virus get to India?

How did virus get to India?

- By Sridhar Kumaraswami


New Delhi, Feb. 19:

A day after the outbreak of bird flu in the country, the Union government remains clueless about how the infection reached Nandurbar district of Maharashtra. "We have not yet established how the bird flu reached Nandurbar. Migratory birds are believed to spread the infection, but there is no evidence of this," said animal husbandry joint secretary Upma Chawdhry. Migratory birds fly to the country from China and Central Asia during winter to escape the extreme cold in those regions.

"Our information is that there are no water bodies (believed to be frequented by migratory birds) in Nandurbar. So it?s surprising how migratory birds could have spread the infection there," pointed out animal husbandry commissioner S.K. Bandhopadhyay. "We may also check for signs of any illegal import of birds by traders in the region. Import of poultry from outside the country was banned two years ago," said Mr Bandhopadhyay. "We will check for signs of any illegal import of vaccines for the poultry. We will also explore whether any wild birds in the region could have picked up the flu from migratory birds," he added.

Health ministry officials say that "the role of migratory birds in the spread of the highly pathogenic avian influenza is not fully understood". But officials say "considerable circumstantial evidence suggests that migratory birds can introduce low pathogenic H5 and H7 viruses to poultry flocks, following which the virus mutates to a highly pathogenic form", resulting in the deaths of lakhs of poultry and creating the danger of the infection spreading to human beings as well.
"We propose to conduct an epidemiological study of the Nandurbar region after the process of culling of birds is over," revealed Mr Bandhopadhyay. The epidemiological study will comprise both geographic and human studies in the region as well as disease patterns. "Only then can something be conclusively stated," the animal husbandry commissioner said.

 

[HenryN]

Re: INDIA Bird flu confirmed (& rumors of humans) 18.2.06

Re: INDIA Bird flu confirmed (& rumors of humans) 18.2.06

http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=276891&sid=REG

Mother, Son having 'mild flu' admitted to hospital

Navapur (Maha), Feb 20: The mother and brother of a 27-year-old man, who the authorities said died of "acute respiratory distress" and not because of Bird Flu, have shown symptoms of mild flu and have been hospitalised here.

Ganesh Bhai Ramesh Bhai Sonar, who hailed from Navapur, died yesterday in a hospital in neighbouring Surat and officials said his death was due to acute respiratory distress and was not related to the avian influenza.

They said he had "no exposure to poultry". Ramesh Sonar, father of Ganesh, said today that his wife and another son, who were with the deceased when he was admitted to the hospital in Surat, have shown some symptoms of mild flu and have been hospitalised here.

"The hospital authorities were not telling us anything about their condition. The entire hospital has been cordoned off," he said.

Bureau Report

 

[UKMum]

Re: Summer heat could defeat bird flu virus

Re: Summer heat could defeat bird flu virus

Remember 1918, the summer didnt stop it.

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: 15,000 Birds Dead in Nandubar

Re: 15,000 Birds Dead in Nandubar

Chicken Death Probe

Pradhan said animal husbandry officials suspect the chickens died of Ranikhet, an infectious poultry disease caused by a virus. Three years ago, it had claimed more than 10,000 birds in north India, he said.

Ranikhet is Newcastle disease.

 

[DB]

Re: First suspected human death from bird flu in India

Re: First suspected human death from bird flu in India

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1422003,curpg-1.cms

MUMBAI: Confirming that it was bird flu and not Ranikhet disease that was killing thousands of chicken in Nawapur taluka of Nandurbar district in the past fortnight, state officials hit out at poultry giants for hiding the outbreak from the government.

"For at least two to three days before it came to our notice, birds had been dying in various poultry farms but we were not told about it," Maharashtra animal husbandry secretary Uttam Khobragade told TOI on Monday.

"The poultry farmers tried to deal with the crisis themselves. They buried the birds," he added. Khobragade was only repeating what government officials had told TOI on Saturday, but only more directly.

TOI had on Sunday quoted them as saying that there was "an attempt to hide the sudden death of chickens". "After we got wind of it, the administration initially thought it could be the seasonal Ranikhet disease, nevertheless we sent the samples to Bhopal for tests.

After 96 hours, the tests showed it to be bird flu," an official had said on Saturday, when the news first broke out. State animal husbandry commissioner Bijay Kumar too had independently corroborated Khobragade's statement.

"Poultry giants buying livestock from Nawapur should have alerted the animal husbandry department earlier. We learnt about the unusally high number of bird deaths from newspaper reports," he said, speaking over the phone from Nawapur on Saturday.

Kumar also said that the administration was looking at what action could be initiated against the poultry firms for concealing the outbreak.

"We have been asking for fresh samples to be taken. But now that the culling is over, these kind of statements are completely unfair and uncalled for.

It's nothing but harassment?because we were the first to open our mouths," said Anuradha Desai, CEO of Venkateshwara Hatcheries, which is the biggest player in the poultry business.

The debate on whether it is actually avian flu (caused by the H5N1 virus) or some other viral disease (like Ranikhet of the Newcastle family of viruses, which kill large number of birds, but do not affect humans) affecting northern Maharashtra's poultry farms dominated Khobragade's press briefing on Monday.

Bird flu is a relatively new virus (H5N1) which was first detected in 1997 in China. Flu bouts have since recurred in avian population across three continents including 20 countries.

Around 190 cases of the H5N1 virus have been reported in human beings, with half of them succumbing to the infection. The World Health Organisation had last year forewarned countries, including India, that lie in the flypath of migratory birds (carriers of the H5N1 virus) to brace themselves for a bird flu outbreak.

Yet Indian poultry farmers reacted with scepticism to the govern ment diagnosis on Saturday, insisting it is the Ranikhet virus that is felling their birds.

 

[Theresa42]

Bird flu scare brings Mumbai under the scanner

Bird flu scare brings Mumbai under the scanner

Bird flu scare brings Mumbai under the scanner
Tuesday, February 21, 2006 01:48 IST
Targets fail in Navapur
Vaishali Balajiwale & Vineeta Pandey

NAVAPUR/NEW DELHI: The poultry town of Navapur has become a chicken graveyard. Several farmers have abandoned their farms while others are resisting the government order to cull fowl within a 3km radius.

An official involved in the culling admitted the lack of cooperation was hampering pace. ?We are new here and do not know where the farms are located,? he said. ?Many farms are locked up and the owners are absent. This makes our job very difficult.?

As a result, the work is proceeding at an excruciatingly slow pace. The government planned to slaughter 9,00,000 birds in three days, but by Monday evening only 70,000 had been destroyed.

State Animal Husbandry Minister Anees Ahmed, who is in Navapur since Sunday, said it will take at least eight days to clean up 1,000 tonnes of bird droppings in the town.

Meanwhile, the government remained firm as the poultry industry questioned the avian flu alert. It said scientists had made no mistake in identifying the virus. ?The infection cannot be wished away,? Union Health Secretary PK Hota said. ?We have cross-checked properly before announcing it. This is the reality. Let?s face it.?

The industry had suggested that the scientists had confused it with Ranikhet, a common poultry infection. ?A series of tests were conducted at the High-Security Animal Diseases Lab (HSADL) on the samples from Navapur,? Upma Chawdhry, joint secretary in the animal husbandry department of the Union agriculture ministry, said.

Dr NK Ganguly, director-general, Indian Council of Medical Research, said the tests were confirmed by two scientists at the National Institute of Virology, Pune, Dr Leena Yoglekar and Dr AC Mishra, who are experts in human influenza. ?We had no option but to declare that these cases were of bird flu. There is no ambiguity in the results,? Dr Ganguly said. But the government assured the Lok Sabha that there is no cause for panic.

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1014067&CatID=1

 

[Theresa42]

Flu drug retail banned

Flu drug retail banned

Flu drug retail banned
- By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, Feb. 20: The Union government has decided to ban retail sales of the anti-influenza drug Tamiflu and its generic versions due to fears of panic buying. "We are issuing a notification that there will be no retailing of Tamiflu, which will be sold only through public health channels," Union health secretary P.K. Hota said on Monday.

The government has been receiving feedback that there could be panic buying of the drug if it becomes available across the counter. "Tamiflu is not suitable for kids and it has some side-effects," said Mr Hota. "The drug will only be released through public health channels after prescription," he added.

"Some of my friends too called me up last night and asked whether they could get some tablets of Tamiflu," a worried Health Secretary revealed.
Asked about the implications for the pharmaceutical companies that are ready with Tamiflu and its generic versions, Mr Hota said, "This (the outbreak of bird flu) is not an occasion to make money." However, he added that "the pharmaceutical companies can manufacture the drug and we (the government) will buy it".

The Union government has already placed orders for 1 million doses of Tamiflu from Swiss pharma Roche and Hyderabad-based Hetero Drugs. But other pharma companies, including Cipla and Ranbaxy, are keen to produce generic versions of Tamiflu and have the necessary ability. "We will be coming out with another tender for 5 lakh doses of Tamiflu. All companies can apply for the tender," said Mr Hota.

"If the government is going to ban the retailing of Tamiflu and generic versions, we will obviously not be able to sell it in the open market, but our primary aim is to ensure that there are enough stocks for the public. We are also ready to supply the drug to the government if it places orders," Cipla managing director Amar Lulla told this newspaper from Mumbai.

In fact, Cipla is already ready with "Antiflu", its generic version of the anti-influenza drug which it had hoped to release in the open market soon.

http://www.asianage.com/

 

[Theresa42]

Fowl play (Some muckraking from an Indian paper)

Fowl play (Some muckraking from an Indian paper)

Fowl play
By: Sandeep Ashar
February 20, 2006

The government is feeding you lies. Sandeep Ashar discovers there is little being done to contain the spread of the virus in Nandurbar

Nawapur: The death of 50,000 chickens and the threat of a human pandemic has not yet awakened the state government from its Kumbhakaran-like slumber.

Despite statements that “things were largely under control,” we discovered that the reality in Nawapur taluka of Nandurbar, was very different.

While the government said it had quarantined all poultry farms within a three-kilometre radius in Nawapur, we found a farm, a few metres from the circuit house, without any quarantine measures. And terrifyingly, just 94 poultry workers of the over 7,000 who work in Nawapur, were screened for possible virus exposure.

The state said it has stocked 9,000 tablets of Tamilflu for distribution; villagers employed with the poultry farms say not a single official has even visited them.

The World Health Organisation recommendations for prevention of bird flu include a sophisticated ICU facility and ventilator. The government hospital there has no ICU.

And yes, no masks either.

But of course, the government says it is prepared!


Bird-brained response

Government officers and ministers visiting the bird flu-hit Nawapur taluka area in Nandurbar yesterday wasted most of the day at the Circuit House.

“Things were largely under control,” said district collector Jayant Gaikwad. However, Sandeep Ashar and lensman Pradeep Dhivar find otherwise.


Culled poultry buried in flu-hit farm’s backyard

"We have quarantined all poultry within a three-km radius of Nawapur. They will be eliminated,” Gaikwad assured. However, a poultry farm metres away from the circuit house Mid Day visited was full of birds.

People were walking right next to the poultry, a dangerous eventuality, considering the fact that Dawn Poultry, where 18,000 birds have died over the past few days, is right next to it. Even the birds that had died at the farm were buried in its own backyard. (see pic).

Ducks and sparrows are regular visitors at the empty bird’s enclosure at Dawn Poultry, increasing chances of infection.


Load-shedding, shortage of masks at hospital

No ICU

WHO recommendations for prevention and clinical management of bird flu advocate a highly sophisticated ICU facility and state-of-the-art ventilator support at hospitals treating suspected victims.

There was no ICU facility at the government hospital where two patients — Shankutala Gavit (30) and Prakash Vesave (4) — were isolated.

Even the four ventilators were brought in from Nagpur only two days ago. Doctors also rued the fact that the area saw load shedding for close to six hours every day impeding the hospital’s functioning.

“We have requested MSEB officials to restore power supply in the area temporarily,” said officials from the collector’s office. [Power outages!]


Shortage of masks

Culling activity was also affected by a shortage of face masks and hand gloves for health workers, who run a high risk of infections. WHO has recommended high quality N-65 masks to avoid infections like SARS seeping in health workers.

While the special masks were a rarity, even supplies of surgical masks were short. Even Dr Mundada entered the isolation chamber in the hospital without a mask.


Just 94 out of 7,000 workers tested

Until late evening, officials had screened only 94 poultry workers for their exposure to the virus.

Vipinbhai Chokhawala, former president, Nawapur Nagar Parishad, and a spokesperson for poultry farmers said more than 7,000 people were employed with poultry farms in the area.

Jagdish Vesave (30), sarpanch of the tribal Wakhipada belt, which has 75 per cent of its populace employed in poultry farms, said they were yet to hear from officials, let alone get treatment.

“We have stocked 9,000 tablets of Tamiflu. They will be distributed among those suspected of infection,” said Health Minister Dr Vimal Mundada.


No dos and don’ts for farmers

Farmers and locals, who have not yet grasped the gravity of the situation, have not been counseled by officials.

Counselling, according to WHO, is an important constituent of the contingency plan against the disease.

“All I know is that hundreds of poultry have died,” said Ajay Chaudhary (44), a local.

A few children were found playing with bird feathers. (see pic).

Mystery bird deaths in Aurangabad

MID DAY investigations reveal poultry farms around Aurangabad, which are as far as 260 km from Nandurbar, have also recorded several hundred bird deaths over the past fortnight, suggesting that the deadly virus is spreading.

Sadashiv Bodhke (70), a poultry farmer from Salampura in Aurangabad said, “Several hundred chickens have died in our village over the past few days. Their deaths have been mysterious. Around 50 chicken have died in my house.”

P P Doke, director, state health services, said, “I have asked my officers to ascertain whether these deaths were because of bird flu.”

While health officials were yet to confirm whether these deaths were due to avian influenza, doctors with the health department admitted to a fear of similar bird flu cases outside Nandurbar.

http://ww1.mid-day.com/news/city/2006/february/131288.htm

 

[Theresa42]

Unicef to send 5,000 bird flu pills

Unicef to send 5,000 bird flu pills

Unicef to send 5,000 bird flu pills
By: Sandeep Ashar
February 21, 2006

In the wake of the bird flu outbreak, Unicef will provide Maharashtra with 5,000 Tamiflu tablets and 500 sets of protective gear (masks, gloves and a lab coat).

Speaking to Mid Day from Delhi, Dr P P Doke, director of health services, World Health Organisation (WHO) conveyed Unicef’s decision.

Sources revealed that state officials have already received technical assistance from WHO (India) on the ways and means to contain the bird flu.

Dr Subhash Salunkhe, WHO regional advisor (South-east Asia) on communicable diseases, informed that the world body will also provide consignments of paediatric syrup as an anti-viral to human influenza.

He said the evolved strain of the H5N1 virus is likely to affect children, adding that four children are among the suspected cases reported in Nandurbar.

Faecal matter

Untreated poultry faeces used as manure poses a threat to farmhands, said Dr Salunkhe. The doctor, who has toured bird flu-hit countries like Vietnam and Thailand, said chances of infection from faeces have gone up by 20 per cent.

However, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh announced that the state will be cleaning up at least 1,000 tonnes of faeces as precaution.

Water worries

Dr Salunkhe also pointed out the importance of cleaning water bodies that may have been infected by sick poultry. “Oral ingestion of contaminated water can be dangerous,” he added. Dr Doke, however, said the threat was marginal.

Burial of birds

Dr Salunkhe said proper attention needs to be paid to the burial of culled birds. In Nawapur, most dead birds were buried in the backyard of the farms. “This could prove dangerous to dogs, birds and even human beings as chances of exposure to the virus is high.”

“Ideally, the culled birds should be sealed in plastic bags and incinerated in isolated chambers,” he said. “In the absence of such arrangements, a pit not less than four-foot deep should be dug for the burial,” he added.

Locals panic

Meanwhile, hundreds queued outside the government hospital in Nawapur in order to get themselves tested for bird flu. “Maine dus din pehle kombdi ko haath lagaya, phir khaya bhi. Mujhe dar hai ki mujhe woh bimaari hai,” said Phulawati Chauhan, a resident. Dr Doke, however, assured that no human case of bird flu has been confirmed in India so far.

He informed that six more people had been quarantined yesterday, taking the total number to eight.

http://ww1.mid-day.com/news/city/2006/february/131358.htm

 

[Theresa42]

Culling teams run into defiant farm owners, Sena gives it communal twist

Culling teams run into defiant farm owners, Sena gives it communal twist

Culling teams run into defiant farm owners, Sena gives it communal twist
Tuesday February 21 2006 08:32

NAVAPUR (NANDURBAR): Officials trying to contain the bird flu virus in Navapur faced their first wall of resistance on Monday morning. The owner of Khalil Poultry farm refused to let the official culling team into his premises, claiming that his 27,000 birds were virus-free. Eventually, the police arrived and forced their way in. The culling team followed and emptied Khalil Bardolia?s coops.

As the masked men walked away, they side-stepped the growing divide on the future of the farms and shrill debates on what is slowly turning out to be a ?haphazard attempt? to contain the outbreak. They also left behind a livid Bardolia. ?I have been practically begging officials to come and take samples from my birds. There have been no deaths on my farms and yet they came and murdered my stock. There was no bird flu in my farm and tests would have proved that,? he said.

With his farm within the danger zone, there was no escaping the culling. Despite the fact that they started late and were nowhere near culling their nine lakh bird target, government teams are finally gassing the remaining birds and burying them.

But everywhere the teams go, they bump into groups of protesters demanding that the entire poultry business?the majority farm owners are Muslims?be shunted out of Navapur. Dominated by Shiv Sainiks, the protesters allege that the government has given poultry farmers enough time to transport their birds out of the region.

Outside Alisha farm, the discussion lasted forever. ?Kill the birds? yelled protesters while an equally agitated owner wanted to know how and where he was expected to dispose the birds with JCB machines in short supply. In Navapur?s 40 affected farms, most coops have been empty for the last two days. Everywhere teams went, the birds were gone. Contrary to state government claims of culling eight lakh birds, at the end of the day on Sunday, they had managed to cull only 20,000 birds.

?There are no birds because poultry farm owners sent out their birds much before the emergency was declared,? alleges Arun Choudhary, Shiv Sena?s district president. ?Trucks carrying the sick birds have been shunted out overnight. The owners are worsening the situation, not solving it.?

Firmly believing that farm owners are ?vitiating the atmosphere?, Shiv Sainiks are reaching farms before government teams to ?ensure? that all birds are killed. BJP?s district secretary Anil Vasave agrees. ?We have been complaining since February 7 but no action was taken. We are not against poultry farms but in favour of public health they have to be moved out, at least 10 km away from villages.?

Joining their chorus are a number of villagers. ?Since December, we have been complaining to the administration about the dead birds,? says farmer Vijay Stephen Choudhary of Karanji Khurd village. ?The poultry business is dirty. They kill their birds and dump them on the streets. We live in unhygenic conditions. We don?t want this industry here anymore and we have said so in many petitions to the tehsildar.? But farm owners are standing their ground and asking for help to revive their business. ?Nobody can blame anybody,? says Ghulam Vohra of the Navapur poultry association. ?It is unfortunate it happened and now we are looking at how to revive the industry. The worst affected are going to be the 5,600 workers directly employed in the farms.?

Minister?s flip-flop

Maharashtra Animal Husbandry Minister Anees Ahmad, who on Sunday claimed that eight lakh birds would be culled and samples had already been sent to London for revalidation of bird flu, grinned sheepishly on Monday after Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh clarified that no samples were being sent abroad.

http://www.newindpress.com/2006/Avianflu/News.asp?Topic=-447&Title=Reports&ID=IEP20060220221113&nDate=&Sub=&

 

[Theresa42]

70 chickens die in West Bengal

70 chickens die in West Bengal

(N.B. - West Bengal borders on Bangladesh.)

70 chickens die in West Bengal
Monday February 20 2006 20:45
PTI

HOOGHLY, WB: At least 70 chickens died at a hatchery on Monday even as local people informed the administration that a poultry farmer burnt the bodies of 150 birds in Hooghly district of West Bengal.

The owner of a hatchery at Jagaddhatri para of Sheoraphuli contacted the district Animal Husbandry Department (AHD) when about 70 chickens died on Monday afternoon, assistant director in the Animal Research Department, Shibnath Dey said.

Dey said blood samples from 10 live chickens were collected for analysis. The police have sealed the hatchery.

District Magistrate Vinod Kumar was also informed by locals that a poultry farmer at Ghiya village under Arambagh police station had burnt the bodies of about 150 chicken since Sunday.

All the birds in the poultry died.

Kumar said that he would inquire into the matter, adding all the hatcheries in the district had been alerted and the AHD officials would be at hand if anything suspicious was found.

Most hatcheries of the district are located in Dhaniakhali and Arambagh areas.

Meanwhile, Arambagh hatcheries, the largest hatchery in the state, was not allowing anybody to go inside their premises.

http://www.newindpress.com/2006/Avianflu/News.asp?Topic=-447&Title=Reports&ID=IEH20060220102401&nDate=&Sub=&

 

[Theresa42]

Meanwhile, hospital hunt for its 3 patients continues

Meanwhile, hospital hunt for its 3 patients continues

Meanwhile, hospital hunt for its 3 patients continues
Monday February 20 2006 09:15

NAVAPUR: Fears about the dreaded H5N1 virus crossing the species barrier from poultry to humans kept doctors on toes in this tiny 50-bedded rural district hospital on Sunday. No human contact has yet been reported though three persons?a woman and two children?have been admitted to the hospital and are under observation.

Five people with suspected symptoms had come to the hospital on Saturday. Their blood samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune. The results were expected to come in five days, the hospital officials said. Two of the patients?a farmer?s wife Shakutala Gawit (38) and a farmer?s son Prakash Vasave (4)?were admitted to the hospital for medical observation. Prakash Vasave incidentally comes from Wasadha village, which is 100 km from Navapur. The officials are now trying to locate the other three patients, who were allowed to leave the hospital after taking their blood samples.

Today, 20 patients with suspected virus symptoms reported at the hospital. A five-year-old child was admitted and the rest were let off after taking their blood samples. ??We have converted 20 of the 50 beds into an isolation ward,?? said the officials.

The hospital began to show signs of preparedness only by Sunday afternoon after bureaucrats and state officials started doing rounds, asking questions and holding media briefings. To assist a small staff of 10 doctors and 12 nurses at the hospital, the medical colleges in Dhulia and Pune sent three physicians and anaesthetists on Sunday.

Director Health Services (check) PP Doke, who visited the hospital, said: ??We will get 9,000 Tamiflu tablets by tonight. We have also ordered four ventilators.??

http://www.newindpress.com/2006/Avianflu/News.asp?Topic=-447&Title=Reports&ID=IEP20060219225358&nDate=2/20/2006&Sub=&

 

[Theresa42]

India to conduct inquiry over bird flu delays

India to conduct inquiry over bird flu delays

India to conduct inquiry over bird flu delays
02-21-2006, 08h44
NAVAPUR, India 2006 (AFP)

Indian officials have admitted failings in their bird flu surveillance system after the country's first case of H5N1 was only confirmed 25 days after chickens started dying.

A senior expert promised to conduct an internal inquiry after it took more than two weeks for officials to be notified of the bird deaths, which began January 24 near the town of Navapur in western Maharashtra state.

"We need to expand the use of surveillance," said state animal husbandry commissioner Vijay Kumar, who added that officials currently collect only 1,000 samples a year for analysis across the state.

But Kumar said in the last two months, forestry and wildlife department officials have been trained to take samples.

He also blamed farmers for the delay in notifying officials.

"We have no past experience of handling this situation. I am happy that we reacted quickly," Kumar said, adding that sample collectors were sent to the area on February 9, just one day after farmers alerted administrators.

Mohinder Oberoi, avian influenza coordinator for the seven-member South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, said, "We will have to wait and watch for another 10 days or two weeks to see if it remains localised here (around Navapur).

"This is the crucial period," he told AFP in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, many farmers said they were furious about the decision to slaughter some 130,000 chickens because they accepted findings from a Pune laboratory last week that blamed the bird deaths on Newcastle disease caused by changing weather conditions.

That laboratory did not have the expertise or equipment to test for bird flu, Kumar said. A specialist laboratory in Bhopal confirmed only Saturday that it had discovered H5N1, triggering the slaughter of thousands of birds within an eight-kilometre (five-mile) radius of Navapur.

The slaughter of the remaining chickens in 49 farms in and around the town was expected to be completed Tuesday.

Khalil Bardolia, 53, a farmer who was losing 27,000 birds to the slaughter, still blames Newcastle disease for the bird deaths.

"There is no disease (bird flu) in this area," Bardolia said. "What they are doing is absolutely unacceptable."

P.M.A. Hakeem, a senior official in India's animal husbandry department denied the government had reacted too slowly after being alerted to the unusual number of bird deaths.

"In this season, Newcastle disease is common," Hakeem said. While some birds had died in January, the central government only found out around February 10 and quickly sent samples to be tested in Bhopal, he said.

"It takes five days to know the results. Four tests were carried out. We got the first confirmation of bird flu on the morning of 16 February," Hakeem said.

"We rushed a technical team to Bhopal to confirm the findings of the test to make sure it was bird flu before declaring it (on February 18)."

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=108984

 

[Sally Furniss]

Delhi hospitals set up special wards for bird flu

Delhi hospitals set up special wards for bird flu

Delhi hospitals set up special wards for bird flu
NEW DELHI, FEB 21 (PTI)Hospitals in the national capital have set up special wards for treatment of any suspected human case of bird flu while the Delhi Government today instructed food joints in the city to procure chickens from the authorised Ghazipur poultry market only.
A 10-bedded ward has been created in the trauma centre of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and another ward, with 20 beds, has been set up at the Deendayal Upadhyay Hospital to treat any suspected human case of avian flu.
The information was given at a meeting convened by Delhi Health Minister Yoganand Shastri of the Medical Superintendents of 12 city hospitals to take stock of their preparedness.
Laboratories of Maulana Azad Hospital and AIIMS have been identified for conducting confirmatory blood tests for suspect human cases.
"We are fully prepared to meet any eventualities in Delhi," Shastri said after the meeting, informing that three million doses of the anti-flu medicine Tamiflu were now available in Delhi and there was no (no) need to panic.
He said the government today sent instructions to all the city hotels asking them to procure chickens only from authorised Ghazipur poultry market.
"Our doctors are checking the chicken in Ghazipur poultry market before they are sold and I have asked the hotels to buy chickens only from the Ghazipur Market," he said.
Some city hotels and restaurants have already stopped serving chicken since yesterday.
http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=356947

 

[DB]

Maha: Eight admitted for suspected bird flu in Navapur

Maha: Eight admitted for suspected bird flu in Navapur

http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/D69F6C06687F86B46525711C0043E9B3?OpenDocument

Shashwat Gupta Ray
Navapur (Maharashtra), Feb 21 (PTI) Eight persons have been admitted as new suspected cases of bird flu at the sub-district hospital here and are under observation in a specially-erected isolation ward.

With the eight new cases admitted yesterday following the door-to-door medical check, the total number of patients under observation in the isolation ward currently is 11, Civil Surgeon Dr M V Munde told PTI.

"There are eleven patients now admitted in the isolated ward for suspected bird flu, including eight who were admitted yesterday following door-to-door survey and three others were admitted on Sunday," Munde said.

The blood samples of all these people were sent to National Institute of Virology in Pune for testing and the reports are expected in three days, he added.

The three patients, who were admitted on Sunday for observation, were those who were in contact with the deceased Ganesh Sonar, who died in Surat last week, and two of his family members, Munde said.

Asked why the mother-son duo were given permission to return home, he said "they were discharged yesterday under special circumstances as they had to perform special prayers for the deceased Ganesh Sonar along with other family members." However, they were persuaded and convinced and brought back to the hospital, he added.

Munde said there were no human deaths due to suspected bird flu infection. PTI

 

[Mellie]

8 new suspected bird flu case

8 new suspected bird flu case

8 new suspected bird flu case
Agencies

http://www.centralchronicle.com/20060222/2202002.htm

Navapur (Maharashtra), Feb 21 Eight persons have been admitted as new suspected cases of bird flu at the sub-district hospital here and are under observation in a specially-erected isolation ward.

With the eight new cases admitted yesterday following the door-to-door medical check, the total number of patients under observation in the isolation ward currently is 11, Civil Surgeon Dr M V Munde said.

"There are eleven patients now admitted in the isolated ward for suspected bird flu, including eight who were admitted yesterday following door-to-door survey and three others were admitted on Sunday," Munde said.

The blood samples of all these people were sent to National Institute of Virology in Pune for testing and the reports are expected in three days, he added.

The three patients, who were admitted on Sunday for observation, were those who were in contact with the deceased Ganesh Sonar, who died in Surat last week, and two of his family members, Munde said.

Asked why the mother-son duo were given permission to return home, he said "they were discharged yesterday under special circumstances as they had to perform special prayers for the deceased Ganesh Sonar along with other family members."

However, they were persuaded and convinced and brought back to the hospital, he added.

Munde said there were no human deaths due to suspected bird flu infection.

No eggs, chickens on trains

New Delhi: Indian Railways have decided to ban serving of chicken dishes and eggs in any form in trains and stations in the wake of outbreak of bird flu.

Instructions to this effect have already been issued to all Zonal Railways and to Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC). The decision was taken in public interest, an official release said here on Tuesday.

 

[Mellie]

Re: 8 new suspected bird flu case

Re: 8 new suspected bird flu case

I wonder if the relatives were given Tamiflu.

 

[Clytie]

New Human Case & 20,000 chickens culled in Surat (India)

New Human Case & 20,000 chickens culled in Surat (India)

20,000 chickens culled in Surat


Summit Khanna
Monday, February 20, 2006 23:42 IST
http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1014049

SURAT: Over one lakh chicken were culled in the bird flu-affected town of Navapur, situated on the Gujarat-Maharashtra border, on Monday. More than 20,000 chicken were also culled in Uchhal taluka of Surat district.

Official sources said that one suspected human bird flu case was detected in Uchhal taluka on Monday. Prakash Gamit (38), a resident of Mogarwad village in Uchhal, was admitted to a hospital in Vyara, after he showed symptoms of the disease.

Blood samples of six people of Navapur and five people from Uchhal, were sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, for testing.

Talking to media-persons, R B Shukla, director of state animal husbandry department said, ?Since bird flu has been confirmed in Navapur, we are taking steps to abide with the
Central government?s action plan. In accordance with the plan, we have decided to cull all chicken in poultry farms, situated within a three-km radius of Navapur.?

?All humans in this area will be provided medicines, while all chicken and humans living in a 10-km radius of the affected area will be vaccinated,? he said, adding that the district administration has already received over 40,000 vaccines from the Central government.

 

[Clytie]

Re: New Human Case & 20,000 chickens culled in Surat (India)

Re: New Human Case & 20,000 chickens culled in Surat (India)

"....all chickens and humans living in a 10-km radius of the affected area will be vaccinated"

Does anyone know what kind of vaccine they might be using on the humans in this 10-km area?

 

[Mellie]

Flu spreads (in birds); thousands tested in India

Flu spreads (in birds); thousands tested in India

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Di...February2006&file=World_News2006022254845.xml

Flu spreads; thousands tested in India
Web posted at: 2/22/2006 5:48:45
Source ::: Reuters

BRUSSELS: The H5N1 strain of bird flu was confirmed in Hungary and Croatia yesterday as the deadly virus spread around the globe, while EU officials considered measures to vaccinate millions of birds in France and the Netherlands.

In India, where officials are scrambling to contain a major outbreak in poultry, hundreds of people turned up for screening at medical camps in areas where bird flu has been reported.

In India, 12 people have been quarantined in the town of Navapur, about 300km north of Mumbai, and three others are under observation in Vaira in neighbouring Gujarat state. So far, there are no confirmed human cases in India but thousands of people have been tested just in case.

?About 500 people have walked into makeshift medical camps in Navapur to get checked for cough and cold since Monday evening,? said T P Doke, health director of the state of Maharashtra.

Doke said authorities had completed a door-to-door search in Navapur where 30,000 people had been examined. Another Maharashtra state official said about 300,000 birds have been culled so far with tens of thousands more to be killed.

At least 15 nations have reported outbreaks in birds this month, an indication that the virus, which has killed more than 90 people, is spreading faster.

The World Health Organisation said that while no human cases of bird flu had been found in India, Egypt or Nigeria transmission risks remain as long as the virus is present. The WHO says thoroughly cooked poultry meat and eggs are safe to eat but that assurance has failed to calm consumers.