Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23 - February 16th

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02020801/H5N1_Karachi_Isolation.html

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Three Suspect H5N1 Patients in Isolation in Karachi

Recombinomics Commentary 05:37
February 2, 2008

three workers of a poultry farm were put under observation at an isolation ward of the Civil Hospital, Karachi.

The above comments describe the isolation of three poultry works linked to the confirmed H5N1 outbreak near Karachi. The hospitalization supports earlier media reports on symptoms in farm workers on the farm where thousands of birds had died (see satellite map here and here).

However, like the confusing reports from Pakistan on the earlier outbreak of human infections in northern Pakistan late last year, recent media reports indicated there were no workers found or no infections found. It is not clear when these workers were tested, relative to the announcement or relative to Tamiflu treatment, which has likely already started on these workers.

In the earlier series, notification of positive test results were withheld for approximately six weeks, and independent confirmation of the positives was impacted by the degradation of the samples. It is likely that the H5N1 in Karachi is similar to the H5N1 reported earlier, so more human infections are likely.

More information on the testing of these quarantined patients would be useful.


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[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02020802/H5N1_Karachi_Isolation_More.html

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More Detail on Patients in Isolation in Karachi

Recombinomics Commentary 06:59
February 2, 2008

the persons, named Mohammad Aslam, Ghulam Mustafa and Allah Dino, had been admitted to the isolation ward of the CHK for observation purposes.

?As per initial examinations, none of the three had shown any symptoms of bird flu infection, but they would be watched for four to five days to avert any danger to them,? he said.

One of the workers, Mohammad Aslam, said he had been working at the farm for about three months and had complaints of pain without flu.

The owner of Uni poultry farm told Dawn in the evening that his premises had been sealed by the government officials after completing the culling operation. He said he had to suffer a loss of about 12,000 birds that existed in two flocks due to the bird flu virus.

The above comments provide more detail on the three patients in isolation. However, it is unclear why they were selected for isolation and observation. The size of the farm indicates more than three people would have been exposed to the dead or dying birds, suggesting that the workers have some symptoms that fall short of ?any symptoms of bird flu?, but it remains unclear as to what symptoms they do have, other than pain without flu for one of the patients.

Since the culling was done on Friday, there may not have been time for symptoms to appear, especially if the patients were also treated with Tamiflu. Media reports also describe examinations of fifty other farm workers in the region, as well as the preparation of additional isolation rooms. Results of tests on dead birds at a second farm are expected today. Media reports describe additional excessive poultry deaths, and human infections late last year in northern Pakistan increase concerns of human infections linked to the current outbreak (see satellite map here and here).

More detail on why these three workers were selected for isolation and observation would be useful.

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[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02020803/H5N1_Karachi_Isolation_Wards.html

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Isolation Wards Readied in Karachi Area

Recombinomics Commentary 17:27
February 2, 2008

The farms have been sealed off and officials began culling around 10,000 chickens, RH Usmani added.

Following confirmation of bird flu virus in Karachi, emergency has been declared and isolation wards have been set up in all government hospitals in Sindh.

Sindh DG Health Dr Abdul Majeed said that a 4-member committee had been made on district level to examine all poultry farms in the province and steps have been taken at all government hospitals to ensure precautionary measures and in time diagnose of bird flu virus. ?Our medical teams have put them under observation,? Abdul Majeed said. ?We may quarantine them if it is necessary,? he added. Health authorities said they were monitoring at least 15 poultry workers from the two farms.

Meanwhile, Hundreds of chickens have died in several poultry farms in Thatha and Badin. The samples taken from the deceased chickens have been sent to Islamabad for medical examine.

The above comments describe the monitoring of 15 poultry workers from two culled farms. It is still unclear why three farm workers have been placed in isolation As noted above, isolation wards have been set up at all government hospitals in Sindh.

Moreover, the poultry deaths in two additional locations (see satellite map here and here) raise concerns that the H5N1 infections in the south have spread.

In the north, many human H5N1 cases, including a sustained transmission chain that was laboratory confirmed in Pakistan, were reported late last year. It is likely that the outbreaks in the south are due to H5N1 that is genetically related.

Not all of the earlier cases in Pakistan developed pneumonia, raising concerns linked to undetected mild cases.


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[Treyfish]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Sunday, February 3, 2008 <TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD>

No bird flu in Punjab yet?​

</TD></TR><TR><TD>Livestock DG says 15 teams working in all districts to check the virus | Govt to compensate affected poultry farms
</TD></TR><TR><TD>Asim Javed
</TD></TR><TR><TD>LAHORE: Punjab Livestock Research Director General Dr. Jamil Gill has claimed that the H5N1 bird flu virus does not exist in Punjab, as revealed through the 5000 test samples collected from various parts of the province.

The total production of poultry meat in Pakistan is 514 million of tons while only Punjab produces 331.6 million of tons making its share 64.5 per cent, according to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2006-07. It is mentionable that the Pakistan poultry industry had been affected by the outbreak of bird flu last year. On the other hand poultry business had to face inflation because the customers had shown apprehension in this regard Dr. Jamil was talking to The Post here on Saturday. He said that to curb influenza virus various precautionary measures had been adopted. He disclosed that 15 Raid Respond Teams were sent to all districts of Punjab.

These teams were working under the aegis of district livestock offices and DCOs. If bird flu symptom was detected in any district or Tehsil by a raid respond team, it would send the sample to the National Veterinary Laboratory, he added.

To a query about bird flu virus as how to monitor it in a far away part of the province, he replied that it would be done under the surveillance and monitoring and collecting the data .He further disclosed if any complaint about that harmful poultry virus was received, the report would be sent to the concerned authorities to cull the poultry farm

Responding to a question, he said the government would compensate affected poultry farms. He further disclosed last year Rs 7 million were distributed among 40 affected poultry farms in Punjab.

He said Bird flu could not survive more than 70 degrees Celsius temperature besides traditional cooking which was normally to be 120 degrees Celsius and dispelled all rumours about human death.

He further said bird flu virus leaves the effect on egg collectors, feed providers and poultry workers and refuted there was a positive report of the H5N1 virus.:tiphat:
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
http://www.thepost.com.pk/ShortNews.aspx?shortid=5326&catid=3

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02020805/Pakistan_Alert.html

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Pakistan Hospitals on High Alert

Recombinomics Commentary 20:01
February 2, 2008

High alert has been declared in the whole country after bird flu confirmation in Karachi.

check-points have been set up at the entry/exit roads of the city, where chickens and poultry products coming from Sindh and Punjab

The above comments indicate all of Pakistan is now on high alert due to H5N1 in the Punjab region in the north, where H5N1 in humans and poultry was confirmed late last year, and recent confirmation of H5N1 in the Karachi (see satellite map here and here) .

In the Karachi area isolation wards have been readied and at least three farm workers have been placed in isolation. Last year, infections of cullers in October led to sustained transmission in humans in November. Reports on subsequent suspect patients have not been forthcoming.

However, the recent confirmation in the south raises concerns that the same strain in the north is now present throughout the country and is also likely in neighboring India, where excessive poultry deaths have been reported in the north, and confirmed in West Bengal.

The high alert reflects concerns that the infections confirmed on farms could spread to adjacent metropolitan areas,


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[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02020805/Pakistan_Alert.html

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More Karachi Farm Workers Under Observation

Recombinomics Commentary 00:21
February 3, 2008

Around 800 more chickens died on Saturday in a poultry farm reportedly owned by the Rangers. The farm is located adjacent to the one in which Friday?s laboratory test confirmed the outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu. The discovery compelled officials to put nine people, including four Rangers? personnel under observation, Health officials said.

Nine poultry workers associated with the adjacent farm are being monitored by doctors twice a day - morning and evening. Three workers of ?Uni Poultry Farm? have been kept at the isolation ward of the Civil Hospital, Karachi.

The three workers of the affected poultry farm who were taken Friday to the isolation ward of Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) have shown no symptoms yet, Daily Times learnt Saturday.

Hospital sources confirmed that Allah Dino, S/O Muhammad Hussain, his brother Ghulam Hussain, 25, and Muhammad Aslam, 25, S/O Muhammad Bangul, were all workers at the Dr Hamid Poultry Farm.

?There have been no symptoms that suggest they have been infected by the virus yet,? sources said. Their samples have been sent to the National Reference Lab in Islamabad and the reports will come in a few days, they added.

The above comments provide more detail on the three farm workers in isolation, but a discription of their symptoms is still vague. It is likely that the dead birds on the adjacent farm were also infected with H5N1 and all 18-21 workers on the two farms had some exposure, but only three are in isolation.

It seems likely that these three have symptoms that caused their isolation, but those symptoms remain unclear.

Pakistan has now put hospitals throughout the country on high alert, in large part because of these outbreaks near Karachi. However, there are rumored outbreaks elsewhere in the south, and it seems likely that there are ongoing issues with H5N1 in the north (see satellite map here and here).


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[Treyfish]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD>

Birds? inter-provincial movement banned​

</TD></TR><TR><TD>Sunday, February 3, 2008
</TD></TR><TR><TD>Staff Reporter/Agencies
</TD></TR><TR><TD>ISLAMABAD: Federal Government has directed the local governments to ensure registration of poultry farms in wake of bird flu outbreak in the country.

Meanwhile, authorties have banned movement of birds from Balochistan to Karachi, a private TV channel reported.

Federal government also said that only those poultry farms would be compensated for culling of birds who have already registered with the local government. The government has also advised the local administration to register poultry farms in view of recent outbreak in Karachi. Livestock officials slaughtered more than 27,000 chickens and ducks in northern Bangladesh after bird flu outbreak was confirmed at a poultry farms near the Indian border. Officials in India's West Bengal state, which borders Bangladesh, have been struggling to contain the outbreak of H5N1 bird flu virus.

Rafique ul Hassan Chief veterinary Officer told The Post that Ministry of Health and Agriculture Ministry have been working to tackle the bid flu outbreak. In this regard 50 farms have been registered in NWFP so far. He said government would start awareness campaign and training for farm workers next weak. He also informed that Pakistan has 75 million backyard poultry farms as well as 25 thousand and eight hundred commercial farms and government is struggling to register those farms.

Agriculture Executive District Officer (EDO) Dr Hameedullah Shaw told The Post that legislation regarding poultry farms should be made mandatory to tackle bird flu at federal level and also at provincial level. He said government should ensure the compensation to poultry farmers so that they should not avoid providing information to local government in this regard. The government warned the Department of Livestock that more precautions were needed to prevent the disease from spreading.

H5N1 has killed at least 224 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation. Pakistan Veterinary Medical Council Secretary Dr Alamdar Hussain Malik said the government should promote frozen chicken market to avoid threats of H5N1 virus. He said 2,500 poultry farms were without NOC from the Environment Department and without bio-precautionary measures and 90 percent poultry farms were without boundary walls, adding the poultry farms must avoid wild animals and dogs and vaccinators and workers should be in proper safety dress. Dr Alamdar said the government should establish fund for compensation to poultry farmers.

Meanwhile, Health Joint Secretary Oriya Maqbool Jan during press conference at Pakistan Information Department (PID) on Saturday stressed on media to play positive role in this regard. He said the concerned staff of the poultry farm where bird flu virus was found, are now under observation in the hospital. He added according to laboratory reports all are safe from having any H5N1 virus. He further said keeping in view the situation the federal government has allocated separate places in PIMS and Karachi hospital for any suspected patients to protect the other people from getting this

Oriya Maqbool Jan said the health ministry said no human case of avian influenza has been reported from any part of the country after recent outbreak of bird flu virus in the poultry farm in Gadap, Karachi. He said the provincial and district governments have been directed to adopt recommended measures for preventing and averting any outbreak of avian influenza.

He said the government, being fully aware of the myriad dimensions and sequel of influenza pandemic, is closing monitoring the situation in collaboration with World Health Organisation and has taken appropriate steps to ensure timely containment of any human cases of avian influenza across the country.

He said the ministry of Health has started National Plan for Prevention and Control of Avian Influenza and Pandemic Influenza, costing Rs 330.680 million prepared by the multi-sectoral national expert committee on avian influenza.

Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) spokesman of Dr Arif Usmani said 18 rapid response teams have been formed throughout the country to provide any assistance during any outbreak of bird flu virus in the poultry farms. He said since 2003 the MINFAL is carrying out countrywide surveillance through a network of 12 laboratories linked with the central reference lab Islamabad and monitoring the situation amongst the poultry flocks.

He said during year 2006 total 68 poultry outbreaks reported due to which 250,000 chickens were culled while in year 2007 total 180,,000 chickens were culled due to 47 poultry outbreaks in the country.

Committee formed: According to APP from Mirpurkhas, Poultry Development District Officer (DO) Mirpurkhas Dr Abdul Aziz Khan has said that a five-member committee has been formed, headed by DCO Mirpurkhas, to take preventive measures against bird flu disease and monitor the situation.

The committee has been formed on the directives of Sindh Chief Secretary.

Talking to APP here on Saturday, he said a strict watch was being maintained on 1000 poultry farms in the district after receipt of information of suspected bird flu. A special cell has also been set up to protect the healthy chickens from bird flu, he added.

He further said that more than 5000 samples collected from different poultry farms have been sent for laboratory test due to suspected risk of bird flu. He advised the owners of poultry farms to protect their farms from the flying/visiting birds.:tiphat:
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
http://www.thepost.com.pk/MainNews.aspx?bdtl_id=9311&fb_id=2&catid=14

 

[Treyfish]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

H5N1 bird flu confirmed in Karachi poultry farm
18 teams formed to cope with deadly menace

Observer Report

Karachi?Following the confirmation of bird flu in chickens at Gadap town here, the culling operation of the birds started.
Sources said that there were about 5,500 chickens in the affected farm, whose culling process was started. These chickens after being culled would be buried 35/40 feet underneath the ground, they said.
Sources further said that the health department officials were present on this occasion for supervising and ensuring the whole culling process completed in accordance with the set standard.
Health Department advised people eating chickens for cooking it at 80 degree centigrade. They further advised those working at the chicken shops and the family members handling the chicken meat to wear gloves as precautionary measure.
Earlier, the Sindh government confirmed presence of bird flu virus in poultry farms located in Karachi?s Gadap area.
Sindh government?s Poultry Research department director Dr.Ali Akbar announced that the deadly H5N-1 strain of bird flu has been identified in Gadap and 5,000 chickens have already been culled.
Earlier, the department had sent samples from the poultry farms to the National research lab in Islamabad to confirm the presence of the highly contagious avian influenza. The emergency has been declared in the hospitals across the province and isolation wards have been set up hospitals at Tehsil and District level in the wake of the confirmation of the bird flu in a Gadap Town poultry farm.
The City District Government Karachi Friday took action on a poultry farm suspected to have been infected by bird flu and buried more than 2,000 birds in a 100- feet deep trench while the farm situated in Gadap Town has been sealed by the authorities.
However, hundreds of birds were found dead in Thatta and Badin districts, the sources told Geo News. The chickens were killed in poultry farms suspected to have been infected by H5N1 bird flu virus.
Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Livestock Friday high alerted all the concerned departments across the country after confirmation of Bird Flu?s presence in Karachi while a radius of one kilometer area around the affected poultry farm in the city has been quarantined.
Commissioner Animal Husbandry, MINFAL, R.H. Usmani told local TV channel that 18 teams have been formed across the country to cope with threat of Bird Flu. They have been provided special dress, glasses, gloves and spray, he added.
He said one kilometer area surrounding the affected poultry farm in Gadap area has been sealed and the transportation in and out of the farm has been prohibited.
Samples from one more poultry farm in Gadap have been arrived and their report will come out by tomorrow. Commissioner Animal Husbandry said all precautionary measures have been taken after consulting the matter with Islamabad?s Administration.:tiphat:
http://www.app.com.pk/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27725&Itemid=2

 

[HenryN]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

<TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD class=contentheading width="100%">Isolation wards set up in major hospitals of Peshawar for treatment of bird flu patients </TD><TD class=buttonheading align=right width="100%"> </TD><TD class=buttonheading align=right width="100%"> </TD><TD class=buttonheading align=right width="100%"> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2>PESHAWAR, Feb 3 (APP): After confirmation of bird flu virus in some areas of the country, emergency has been declared in major hospitals of NWFP and Isolation Wards have been set up to treat any patient infected with the deadly disease.
?We have set up an Isolation Ward with the capacity of treating 100 patients affected by the disease,? informed Dr. Saib Gul, Director Emergency Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar.

Talking with APP here on Sunday, Dr. Sahib Gul said all precautionary measures have been taken by hospital administration for treatment of bird flu patients and officials have been directed to be very vigilant and efficient.

All the staff members have been informed about the protective measures from being infected with the deadly virus in case of admission of any patient in the hospital, he added.

He said presently no such patient has arrived from any part of the province .

About the protective equipments for medical staff, he said hospital administration has already made arrangements in this regard.

Meanwhile, a spokesman of Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) informed APP that Isolation Ward has also been set up in the hospital.

He said Isolation ward already exist in the hospital where patients with severe viral infections are treated.

In this ward, he continued, 16 separate rooms are made available which have the capacity of providing treatment to 32 patients. However, in case of increase in number of patients, the capacity of the ward can be extended in accordance with the need, he informed.

He said all the equipment in the Isolation Ward are in accordance with the standard of WHO and hospital administration is fully alert for treatment of bird flu patients.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
http://www.app.com.pk/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27786&Itemid=2

 

[HenryN]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=textlight align=justify>H5N1 virus: NWFP veterinarians put on high alert
ABDUL QADOOS
</TD></TR><TR height=1><TD class=textlight align=justify></TD></TR><TR><TD class=normal align=justify>PESHAWAR ( 2008-02-03 04:17:23 ) : Veterinarians in NWFP had been put on high alert for keeping surveillance on 4,000 poultry farms to prevent the outbreak of the deadly bird flu virus H5N1 in the chickens, sources told Business Recorder on Saturday.

"We have tightened monitoring of the poultry farms and every district has its own monitoring system, " said NWFP Director Livestock Muqarrab Ali Khan. He said that they were also collecting samples of the birds on regular basis in the province, and added there would no hesitation in culling the suspected chickens.

To protect chickens from the deadly avian influenza, the department was also conducting ring vaccination within three-kilometre radius of the suspected poultry farms. Furthermore, the officials of the department were also in closed contact with the owners of the poultry farms.

The first bird flu in the province was detected in March 2006 in the poultry farms of Charsadda and Hazara, which resulted in culling more than 25,000 chicken in two farms. The City District Government Peshawar has also directed all poultry farms in its jurisdiction to adopt protective measures to prevent the disease from spreading to birds.

"We are sending 60 percent samples more than the other provinces to the National Institute of Health (NIH) for laboratory tests and keeping the poultry farms under strict surveillance," added Muqarrab Ali Khan.

He said the provincial government had adopted a scientific approach to the matter through tight surveillance and minimise the chances of spread of the disease. The department had established full-fledged Bird Flu Reporting Centre at Veterinary

Research Institute (VRI), Peshawar, for receiving reports from all districts in general and risk areas in particular, said. Dr Malik Ayaz of the centre, when contacted, said: "The result of the majority tests have proved negative, while 28 have proved positive. The latest positive case has proved on December 3."

He said that initially the samples were being tested in the laboratory of Disease Investigation Office (DIO) at the Directorate of Livestock, he said, and added the centre received 500 samples a week and on suspicion referred it to the National Veterinary Laboratory (NVL), Islamabad, for cross check.

Dr Syed Nasir Hussein Shah, Director Veterinary Research Institute (VRI), Peshawar, gave a totally different version of the situation and was not satisfied of the role of the top officials of the Ministry of Health. He also attributed the propaganda about the disease spread by vested interests.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

http://news.aaj.tv/news.php?pg=3&show=detail&nid=93090

 

[HenryN]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

<TABLE style="WIDTH: 100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=newsHeadings>Confirmation of bird flu virus in Karachi High alert in NWFP: Director Livestock</TD></TR><TR><TD class=writtenBys></TD></TR><TR><TD class=newsBodys>PESHAWAR (APP): The NWFP Livestock and Dairy Development department has announced high alert in the province after confirmation of bird flu virus in Karachi and directed the concerned officials to keep strict vigilance of the poultry farms to prevent spread of the disease. "We have issued directives for strict vigilance of poultry farms and enhanced sampling of birds besides survey of wetlands to keep a check on migratory birds," said Muqarrab Ali Khan, Director Livestock and Dairy Development department. Talking with APP here on Saturday, Muqarrab Khan said the Livestock Department is already keeping a strict vigil and sampling of birds from poultry farms is carried out at district level on regular basis. In the prevailing circumstances, he added, ban has been imposed on import of birds from other parts of the country to the province. Crisis Management Cells have been set up in all the districts of the province as a preventive measure. Teams have also been constituted at district level and about 1100 veterinary centers have been set up in the province to effectively cope with different diseases including bird flu virus. He said the officials have also been directed to quickly response to the headquarter in case of detection of bird flu virus so that effective measures could be taken for blocking its spread in other parts of the province. He said an emergency plan has been chalked out for coping with the outbreak of bird flu virus. Under the plan, he continued, those poultry farms where the disease detected would be sealed for one month and no product would be taken out of it. The staff working in the affected poultry farms would be kept under quarantine for a period they are declared clear of the disease. Similarly, he added, the birds present in the affected farms would be culled. He also informed that NWFP Livestock department culls infected birds with use of chemicals in water because the process is very dangerous and persons involved in killing of birds can contract the virus. He said recently a doctor died due to bird flu virus in NWFP and he become infected due to culling of birds. Director Livestock said special equipment for culling of infected birds have also been supplied to all the districts. He apprised that Livestock department is also carrying blood sampling of migratory birds. Teams of the department regularly visits wet lands and check the samples of died birds. Similarly, hunted birds are also taken from hunters, especially in Southern districts of the province, for blood sampling. Apart from it, he continued, the Livestock department is also working on creating awareness among the stakeholders about bird flu virus and its preventive measures. People working in poultry forms are given special training while those associated in sale of chicken are also informed about the symptoms of the disease and preventive measures. Director Livestock said presently no incident of bird flu virus is reported in NWFP and there is no risk in consuming chickens. However, he requested the people, especially those associated with poultry business, to take precautionary measures to avoid being contracted with the deadly disease. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=cn&nid=315&ad=03-02-2008

 

[HenryN]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD>

Bird flu threat: hospitals put on alert​

</TD></TR><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD>Staff Reporter
</TD></TR><TR><TD>LAHORE: Following the directions of federal government, most of the hospitals of the province have been put on high alert to cope with any emergency arising out of H5N1 strain of avian (birds) influenza. The disease, which had been reported from eastern and southern part of the South East Asia, seems to have been reached most cities of Pakistan during the last 8 hours. Karachi was the first to mark the disease when hundreds of thousands birds were killed and many had to be culled within days. The disease had been reported from various other parts of the country as panic gripped the bird farming sector. In the City, the chicken price has come down substantially during the last two days from 70 to 60 rupee.

The Punjab health department has issued special directions to principals, medical superintendents of teaching hospitals and executive health officers for keeping surveillance and to adopt recommended measures for preventing any outbreak of avian influenza. Isolation units that were meant during the last year in various public hospitals including DHQ hospital to house the suspected bird flu victims have been reactivated while medicines and diagnostic kits have been provided to the hospitals in this regard.

Punjab health department has already made special arrangements for rapid response if any case of bird flu is detected in the province and has arranged medicine for the treatment of bird flue. Specials teams have been constituted for the conducting blood test of the suspected persons. It is also learnt that joint districts teams headed by District Coordination Officers concerned have already functional throughout the province comprising Executive District Officer (Health), Executive District Officer (Agriculture), District Officers Forests and District Officers Livestock. Principals, Medical Superintendents of teaching and district headquarters hospitals & EDOs (Health) had already been directed by the health department on behalf of federal government that arrangements items Zip Gowns (Disposable), Latex Gloves (Disposable), Goggles and Viral Transport Medium (VTM) for the safety of health care workers should be ready in order to meet any emergency in case of occurring of Avian Influenza. The Focal Persons as well as the fields' officers have been directed for immediate reporting to the Directorate General Health Services in case of suspected case so that laboratory diagnosis for N1H5 may be arranged. Dr Afzal Director Health Services (CDC) had already been nominated (functional) as Focal Person for Prevention and Control of Avian Influenza (Bird Flue) in the province. The people can be contacted on 042-9200970 and Email address cdc_pb@yahoo.com, for information. Talking to The Post, WHO representative to Punjab, Dr Asmatullah Chaudhry said in the wake of threat posed by H5N1, special instructions had been issued to the EDOs to keep constant vigil on the situation. "The viral transport medium required for the transport of suspected human samples along with related guidelines has been dispatched to the district health departments", he added.

Moreover, special arrangements for rapid response if any case is detected in the province have been ensured while special teams constituted to collect blood samples for laboratory tests of the affected persons and to send these through TCS courier service to National Institute of Health Laboratory, he said , adding that besides EDO (Health), Executive District Officers (Agriculture), District Officers Forests and District Officers Livestock had been asked to reactivate surveillance to identify and isolate the viruses causing bird flu.

They have been directed to monitor the situation in their respective districts and to report swiftly any suspected case of bird flu in Punjab.

More diagnostic tests would be conducted at the Veterinary Research Institute (VRI) Lahore and Poultry Research Institute (PRI) Rawalpindi in this regard, he notified.

The government is planning to regulate the country's poultry sector comprising about 26,000 farms to make its faltering avian influenza control initiative effective, he maintained.

He said that there was a need to adopt precautionary measures by vulnerable people like poultry handlers, transporters, butchers and buyers to avoid transmission of H5N1 virus. However, he said that the cooked chicken was absolutely safe for consumption because anything cooked at 70 degree Celsius, which usually was a practice in households, destroyed H5N1 virus in the meat. Regarding the preventive measures adopted by City District Government, Executive District Officer Health (EDO-Health) Dr Inam said that the government was emphasizing on health education to aware the people how to avoid bird flu strain. "No report we received yet from any part of the district regarding the prevalence of avian influenza and people are advised to be alarm," he added. He said that city district hospitals' staff had been directed to remain alert to deal with any emergency in this regard.

Precautionary measures stressed to avoid bird flu: Traditional Pakistani foods are cooked at around 120 degree Celsius and this temperature kills H5N1 virus as the Avian influenza virus H5N1 is a heat labile virus and cannot survive in more than 70 degree Celsius. Thus properly cooked chicken can dispel all possibility of virus transmission. Similarly the virus cannot survive extreme cold, thus people should prefer frozen chicken to avoid the threat of the deadly H5N1 virus.

These views were expressed by Pakistan Medical Society (PMS) chairman Dr Masood Akhtar Sheikh while addressing the emergent meeting of the society. Dr Ali, Dr Fauzia, and Dr Israr Hussain Asif also addressed the meeting.

http://thepost.com.pk/CityNews.aspx?dtlid=142713&catid=3
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

[HenryN]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Chickens at Rangers farms culled

SYED JAFAR ASKARI
KARACHI - After confirmation of bird flu in the city, the Pakistan Rangers started eliminating the dead birds suspected with the infection in its poultry farms, The Nation learnt on Sunday.
The high-ups of Rangers directed the personnel deployed at the farms to get their medical tests conducted and not to go outside the farms situated in the affected area of Gadap Town, where already nearly 6, 000 birds had been culled scientifically.
The Sachal Wing of Pakistan Rangers owns such farms where 4000 birds suspected with bird flu were reported to be dead. The source in the health department said that Rangers were supporting the health officials in context of eliminating the dead birds. The reports regarding the medical examination of birds at Rangers farms have yet to be released.
Talking to The Nation, Dr Ali Akbar Soomro, Director Poultry of the Sindh government said that the our teams, comprising experts were visiting the poultry farms of the said area, while report on the blood samples of the affected chickens was expected to be issued today from Islamabad. He said that the affected poultry farms had been sealed and nearly 6000 chickens had been culled scientifically.
?Now the situation is fully under control as the situation is being monitored closely by the teams of experts. We have constituted several committees to inspect the poultry farms, while three committees are visiting every day to poultry farms situated at the affected area. However, no signs of bird flu in other farms have been found.? Dr Soomro stressed the need for guarding the poultry industry in the country, and urged health officials and mediamen to play pivotal role by not exaggerating the issue. He said, ?Insincere attitude towards the issue will aggravate the situation of the industry, providing white meet on cheap rates to poor and elite class. We need to save our industry otherwise white meet will be sold on high prices.?
He stressed for promulgation of the legislation in this regard and said that they were preparing the legislation to regulate the industry so that safe poultry activities in line with international standards could be held and registration and regulation of poultry farms could be made in the country. He said the government intended to recover the current situation of the poultry industry.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/feb-2008/4/index11.php

 

[vinny]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

how has it managed to reach most cities of pakistan in only 8 hours,and isnt that worrying..........?

 

[HenryN]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

how has it managed to reach most cities of pakistan in only 8 hours,and isnt that worrying..........?

It's suspect (this report needs some serious independent confirmation).

 

[Niko]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

It's suspect (this report needs some serious independent confirmation).

Agreed!

I wondered at first reading whether this was an err in translation. I speculated if it really meant that news of the disease (& alert to hospitals) "seems to have been reached most cities of Pakistan during the last 8 hours".

 

[vinny]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

has anyone on here heard of crawford kilian.....??,this man has been saying on his blog about,WHO,s pakistan representative going to battle stations over there.

 

[Niko]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

has anyone on here heard of crawford kilian.....??,this man has been saying on his blog about,WHO,s pakistan representative going to battle stations over there.

Actual quote from blog:http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/

"It's not clear how the virus is known to have turned up all across the country. But the length of the story, and its details, suggest that the authorities (including WHO's Pakistan representative) are going to battle stations. I'll try to track this story through other Pakistani news media?see the H5N1 Hot Zone Sources list in the left-hand column. Let's hope this is a false alarm."

Crawford Kilian has been around as long as I can remember - about 3 years in the flu world. Here's his bio...http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/about.html

Biography

Born in New York City in 1941, I grew up in Los Angeles and Mexico City. Returned to NYC for college (Columbia '62), did two years in the US Army at Fort Ord, worked as apprentice tech writer in Berkeley.
Moved to Canada with my wife Alice in 1967, stumbled into teaching and found I loved it. At Capilano College since it opened in 1968. Taught in China, 1983-84.
Have written a lot of books and articles; current projects include a novel, a couple of nonfiction books, and articles for online journals.



Interests

Writing, teaching, politics, hiking, history, environment.

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Pakistan has a pandemic plan. Part of that plan is communication and a detection network. The hospital notification could fit into that framework as a precautionary measure.

ØEffective networking (district /province/ federal)​

ØAvailability of adequate trained workforce​

ØCapacity building & stockpiling diagnostic reagents, PPE and medicines​

ØToolkit/Guidelines/SoPs (surveillance, sample collection, clinical management)​

ØNational Guidelines for detection of human cases & outreach response​

ØMedia Campaigns


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=vYp&q=Steering+Committee+pakistan+pandemic&btnG=Search
​

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+

Bird flu in another Karachi poultry farm confirmed

Monday February 04, 2008

KARACHI: Bird flu at the law enforcing agency (LEA)?s poultry farm located on the Super Highway here has been confirmed.

Sources said that the blood samples were sent to Islamabad, following the 2500 chicken casualties at a LEA farm on Super Highway here and, thereafter, this morning bird flu in chickens was confirmed, while the remaining 4000 chickens were already culled.

However following the receipt of the report, the employees of the farm were cleared and allowed to go anywhere. Bird flu virus has been confirmed in the two farms here.

http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?196966