Nepal: avian flu emergency in Kathmandu too

[Gert van der Hoek]

Avian flu emergency in Kathmandu too

KATHMANDU, AUG 17 -

Two days after declaring Bhaktapur district a bird flu emergency zone, the government on Friday declared the emergency in various parts of Kathmandu district. A month since its outbreak, the flu has shown no signs of abating.

The emergency was extended to Kathmandu following a meeting of officials of the Department of Livestock Services (DoLS) and the District Avian Influenza Technical Coordination Committee.

According to Kathmandu Chief District Officer Basant Gautam, who also heads the committee, the emergency has been declared in 11 VDCs and some parts of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City and Kirtipur Municipality. The VDCs include Gothatar, Mulpani, Macchegaun, Chalnakhel, Thankot, Matatirtha, Satungal, Mahadevsthan, Dahachowk, Bed Bhanjyang and Purano Naikap, while the metro areas include Ward-35 at Pepsicola and the eastern part of Kirtipur.

“The emergency was clamped after new outbreaks continue to be reported in various parts of Kathmandu,” Gautam said.

The H5N1 strain of the flu has been confirmed in 20 poultry farms in Kathmandu in the past one month. According to Gautam, all fowls will be destroyed in these areas within a week. Meanwhile, the Agriculture Ministry has directed all hatcheries in Kathmandu to stop the production of chicks.

kantipuronline

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Nepal: avian flu emergency in Kathmandu too

Nepal to cull 500,000 chickens near Kathmandu to combat major bird flu outbreak

Fri Aug 16, 2013

Half a million chickens are to be culled in a district on the outskirts of Nepal's capital Kathmandu, as efforts to combat a major outbreak of bird flu are stepped up.

Tens of thousands of birds have already been killed in what government officials have described as one of the country's worst outbreaks of avian flu.

Now authorities in the Himalayan nation have declared the area of Bhaktapur an emergency zone.

Some 62 cases of bird flu have been recorded at 250 poultry farms in three districts in the past few weeks, officials said.

A spokesman for the Directorate of Animal Health said the government ordered the cull to be stepped up after a week-long ban imposed on the sales of poultry products failed to control the H5N1 virus.

"We could not control it (the outbreak) because the supply of poultry products continued despite the ban," Narayan Ghimire said.

"Now, the poultry farmers have joined us in our battle. We are sure we will control it."

Nepal's first outbreak of bird flu was in January 2009.

H5N1, a common strain of bird flu, has killed 377 people globally between 2003 until July 5 this year, according to the World Health Organisation.

No human deaths from bird flu have been reported in Nepal.

ABC net