Pakistan - BF in ANIMALS/POULTRY - Feb 16th +

[sharon sanders]

Re: Pakistan - BF in Animals/Poultry - confirms new bird flu outbreak in NWFP - Feb 16th +

Re: Pakistan - BF in Animals/Poultry - confirms new bird flu outbreak in NWFP - Feb 16th +

Thanks Niko. I just discovered the problem with my post.

Question: I checked the link before posting in my preview mode. Is there some way to prevent this from happening again?

Just check as you did. It happens. We have many moderators that will find the link. Sometimes the sources change the original link.

Thanks for the post!

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Pakistan - BF in ANIMALS/POULTRY - Feb 16th +

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=600 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR bgColor=#f4faff><TD class=heading_txt height=20>Officials being ‘pressurised’ to hide information about virus</TD></TR><TR><TD>

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</TD></TR><TR><TD class=small_txt height=20>2/26/2008 - </TD></TR><TR><TD class=small_txt>Karachi

Poultry farm owners are allegedly pressurising officials of the poultry industry to hide information about the existence of bird flu as it was causing a huge financial loss to them, official sources said on Monday.

“We are facing hostile attitude from the farm owners,” one official of the poultry industry told The News and added: “We have to follow the prescribed protocol.” The official was of the view that it was in the interest of the farm owners that such information not be hidden.

He said that the existence of bird flu strain was hidden for a considerable period of time when it hit Karachi in 2003. Finally, the information was disclosed by the Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) during a press conference when around three million chickens had already died.

“The poultry industry has suffered financial loss up to Rs7.5 billion in the last 25 days due to culling of chickens after the reported presence of bird flu at three poultry farms in the city,” said a spokesman for the PPA, Abdul Maroof Siddiqui, on Monday. Siddiqui added that the industry was suffering around a Rs300 million loss per day.

He feared that if such a situation continued, hundreds of thousands of people would lose their source of livelihood as over one million people were working in the poultry industry. He said that the international media was not giving importance to news about presence of bird flu anymore. He said that bird flu was detected in the country for the first time in 1997 and fears about it being a pandemic have not been proved so far. He said that when the virus is mutated, it may die or become weak. Siddiqui said that bird flu also hit India but it was not getting importance in the media there. While the PPA has reservations about the reporting in the media, he said, they have no complaint against the poultry officials.

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[HenryN]

Re: Pakistan - BF in ANIMALS/POULTRY - Feb 16th +

Pakistan reports fourth February bird flu outbreak
26 Feb 2008 04:55:40 GMT
<!-- 26 Feb 2008 04:55:40 GMT ## for search indexer, do not remove -->Source: Reuters

<!-- AN5.0 article title end --><SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="/bin/js/article.js"></SCRIPT></SPAN><INPUT id=CurrentSize type=hidden value=13 name=CurrentSize> <!-- Pakistan reports fourth February bird flu outbreak --><!-- Reuters -->ISLAMABAD, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities have found a fresh outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu in chickens, the fourth case in a month in the South Asian country, a government official said on Tuesday.
The new outbreak was confirmed on Monday at a poultry farm in Karachi, the country's biggest city and where authorities reported two cases early this month, the official said.
The last bird flu case was reported in a northwestern town on Feb. 16.
"Laboratory tests have confirmed the H5N1 virus on a farm that is located away from populated areas," said health ministry spokesman Orya Maqbool Jan Abbasi.
Before sending samples to Islamabad, the farm owner had culled chickens and dumped them in a well which, Abbasi said, was in violation of the rules.
"This was wrong," Abbasi said. "Now, we have sprayed the well and closed it."
There were about 10,000 birds on the farm, he added.
Several outbreaks of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in poultry and other birds have occurred in Pakistan, most in the country's northwest, since it was first detected in early 2006.
Pakistan confirmed its first human death from the virus near the northwestern town of Abbottabad in December.
Poultry officials say sporadic outbreaks have badly hit the industry, which is estimated to be worth 200 billion rupees (around $3.2 billion) and employs about 1.5 million people.
There is no general alarm, however, and most Pakistanis continue to eat chicken.
(Reporting by Augustine Anthony; Editing by David Fox)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL139793.htm

 

[Giuseppe]

Re: Pakistan - BF in ANIMALS/POULTRY - Feb 16th +

Bird flu threat still lingers as some fowl refuses to leave

By Irfan Aligi

KARACHI: The threat of avian influenza virus (H5N1), more commonly known as bird flu, has not fully died down in Pakistan and there is a constant threat of its breakout in poultry farms, especially in Sindh, said the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) Maternal, Neonatal Child Health (MNCH) program manager and avian flu consultant, Dr Aslam Pervez told Daily Times.

Pervez said that migratory aquatic birds normally leave Pakistan in February, but due to easily available grain and feed at poultry farms, many migratory birds stay back in the marshy and lakeside areas of Sindh, especially Gadap and Malir.

These migratory aquatic birds are carriers of the H5N1, which surprisingly does not kill them, but seriously affects the poultry and other birds which come in contact with them through dung and secretions from nose and mouth.

The H5N1 takes 10 to 14 days to incubate and completely affect the poultry. It is not easy tell if a farm has been infected and there is always a strong premonition that the H5N1 outbreak will occur in a week or two, or a little later.

To be on the safe side, it is imperative to implement the poultry by-laws with full diligence. Unfortunately, none of the poultry farms in Sindh are registered with the government, while it is imperative to adopt bio-safety measures at all poultry farms to prevent the interaction between migratory aquatic birds and poultry birds, warned Pervez.

Sindh Provincial Surveillance Officer on Avian Influenza Dr Aslam Jalali told Daily Times that it is difficult to ascertain the source of transmission of H5N1 in poultry birds because the migratory aquatic fowl was not found as carriers of the H5N1 after randomized sampling with the help of the Sindh Wild Life Department.

The virus is mainly found in layer birds and sampling of broiler birds is not carried out.

However, poultry farmers are now advised to carry out vaccination of the broiler birds as well. There are at least three stages for vaccination of layer birds at poultry farms prior to the egg hatching, while only one time vaccination is required for broiler birds.

Pervez said that although the CDGK city council has passed by-laws for poultry farmers, their implementation is still awaited.

The hygienic condition at all poultry products sales outlet is so filthy that many dangerous species of bacteria and viruses will be found if lab tests are carried out, he added.

The EDO Law, Manzoor Ahmed, told Daily Times that the manuscript of by-laws for poultry has been sent for publication in the Gazette of Sindh after which poultry issues would be dealt with in accordance of the by-laws.

The Gazette notification is expected on Monday (today). After its issuance, a full-fledged operation will be carried out to ensure 100 percent compliance, EDO agriculture Shabbir Bhurt told Daily Times. The DCO has been requested to designate at least one DO and one DDO with a complete staff and necessary machinery at town level so the implementation of the by-laws is ensured.

A well-placed officer in the CDGK told Daily Times that Gadap, Damloti and rural Malir are still at high risk of a breakout of bird flu.

Lack of immunization of the poultry through vaccination is one of the major reasons for this. The poultry farmers deliberately avoid proper vaccination as recommended by government due to high cost.

It is the duty of EDO agriculture to implement the by-laws unconditionally. A letter to speed up the process of sero-surveillance and randomized sampling at all poultry farms has been issued to him, learnt the Daily Times.

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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\03\03\story_3-3-2008_pg12_2
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[Sally Furniss]

Re: Pakistan - BF in ANIMALS/POULTRY - Feb 16th +

Poultry farm registration launched

ISLAMABAD: The government has launched a countrywide campaign for the registration of poultry farms to provide maximum security against bird flu outbreak.

Animal Husbandry Commissioner Dr RH Usmani said that according to an estimate there were about 25,800 poultry farms producing large scale as well as small scale poultry products like meat, eggs and poultry breeding.

He said the campaign was initiated in all four provinces including AJK, which will collect data about the status of all farms existing at district level. Work on the project has been initiated from Peshawar.

Usmani said a number of Rapid Response Teams were also increased from 18 to 23 to control any out break of bird flu around the country.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\03\03\story_3-3-2008_pg11_9

 

[Giuseppe]

Re: Pakistan - BF in ANIMALS/POULTRY - Feb 16th +

(2) [AVIAN INFLUENZA, POULTRY, PAKISTAN, OIE, UPDATES] Highly pathogenic avian influenza, Pakistan

Information received on 10/03/2008 from Dr R. H. Usmani, Animal Husbandry Commissioner/CVO Government of Pakistan, Livestock Wing , Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Islamabad , Pakistan

Summary
Report type Follow-up report No. 12
Start date 01/02/2007
Date of first confirmation of the event 04/02/2007
Report date 10/03/2008
Date submitted to OIE 10/03/2008
Reason for notification Reoccurrence of a listed disease
Date of previous occurrence 07/2006
Causal agent Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus Serotype H5N1
Nature of diagnosis Laboratory (advanced), Necropsy
This event pertains to the whole country
Related reports Immediate notification (07/02/2007)
Follow-up report No. 1 (22/02/2007)
Follow-up report No. 2 (20/03/2007)
Follow-up report No. 3 (31/03/2007)
Follow-up report No. 4 (11/04/2007)
Follow-up report No. 5 (25/05/2007)
Follow-up report No. 6 (06/08/2007)
Follow-up report No. 7 (22/11/2007)
Follow-up report No. 8 (12/12/2007)
Follow-up report No. 9 (02/02/2008)
Follow-up report No. 10 (20/02/2008)
Follow-up report No. 11 (26/02/2008)
Follow-up report No. 12 (10/03/2008)

New outbreaks

*Outbreak 1 - M/S Munir Hussain, Havellian, Abbottabad, NORTH-WEST FRONTIER
Date of start of the outbreak 03/03/2008
Outbreak status Continuing (or date resolved not provided)
Epidemiological unit Farm
Affected animals: Species - Susceptible - Cases - Deaths - Destroyed - Slaughtered
*Birds - 4000 - 350 - 100 - 2500 - 0
Affected population six-week-old broilers in a commercial farm


Summary of outbreaks

Total outbreaks: 1
Outbreak statistics: Species - Apparent morbidity rate - Apparent mortality rate - Apparent case fatality rate - Proportion susceptible animals lost*
*Birds - 8.75% - 2.50% - 28.57% - 65.00%

* Removed from the susceptible population through death, destruction and/or slaughter

Epidemiology

Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection Contact with wild species


Epidemiological comments

Culling and disposal of birds were carried out by the farmer on voluntary basis. Later, Rapid Response Team and a State veterinarian carried out disinfection of the infected premises. The premise was closed for one month.

Ring vaccination with an H5 inactivated monovalent vaccine in a one-km-radius zone around the outbreak is ongoing.

Control measures

Measures applied Stamping out
Quarantine
Screening
Vaccination in response to the outbreak (s)
Disinfection of infected premises/establishment(s)
No vaccination
No treatment of affected animals
Measures to be applied Zoning

Diagnostic test results

Laboratory name and type National Animal Sciences Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad (National laboratory)
Tests and results: Species - Test - Test date - Result
*Birds - enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) - 07/03/2008 - Positive
*Birds - rapid tests - 07/03/2008 - Positive
*Birds - virus isolation - 07/03/2008 - Positive
*Birds - virus neutralisation test (VNT) - 07/03/2008 - Positive

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http://www.oie.int/wahid-prod/public.php?page=single_report&pop=1&reportid=6884
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[unpathedhaunt]

Re: Pakistan - BF in ANIMALS/POULTRY - Feb 16th +

Karachi Chicken Rates at Record High
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/...
KARACHI, PAKISTAN - Chicken rates in Karachi have sky-rocketed to Rs 205 per kg, an all time record for the area, but the high rates are pushing down demand for the meat in to a sharp decline.

*
"An overwhelming majority of consumers are finding it difficult to cope with the enormous increase"
Major poultry industry trader.
The unprecedented rise in chicken rates was attributed by the traders to prevailing massive demand and supply gap in the market pushing its prices beyond the purchasing power of common consumers, writes Tanveer Sher, of the Pakistan Daily Times.

"An overwhelming majority of consumers are finding it difficult to cope with the enormous increase, which has fast spiraled out of their purchasing capacity," claimed a major poultry industry trader.

Chicken live birds are currently priced at Rs 110-112 per kg in the wholesale markets while in the retail, it is available at Rs 113-115 per kg. Representatives of Poultry Association told Daily Times on Monday that the emerging situation owing to discovery of deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in some of Karachi's poultry farms about two and half months ago is the main cause of shortage of supply.

At that time, due to virus scare, the chicken meat demand had plunged sharply as the people had stopped its consumption, which spelled financial disaster for the traders and farmers. According to poultry the traders suffered an estimated loss of Rs 6 to 7 billion since then posing serious financial hardship to them.