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

[Commonground]

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

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

Present status of Bird Flu been discussed in a meeting F.P. Report

PESHAWAR: The Provincial Livestock & Dairy Development Department organized a day long workshop to discuss the present status of Bird Flu in the province. District Livestock Officers of all the 24 districts attended the workshop. The inaugural session was chaired by NWFP Minister Agriculture, Livestock & Cooperatives Department. Detail presentations were given by the Livestock & Health Department regarding causes of spread of the virus as well as precautions measures. Secretary Agriculture, Livestock Shahrukh Arbab attended the concluding session of the workshop as chief guest. Speaking on this occasion he asked all the District Livestock Officers to ensure vigilant surveillance by assigning special duties to their field staff to visit the poultry farms situated in their jurisdictions and collect samples for laboratory tests as well as influence the farm owners and workers to observe bio safety and bio security measures and send regular weekly reports to the Provincial Government in this regard. He stressed the need for keeping close coordination with Health and District Government to avoid any alarming situation. Director L&DD Muqarrab Ali Khan while speaking on this occasion said that although there is no report of any bird flu outbreak however the department is fully prepared to tackle any untoward situation in the province. He said that a well planned strategy has been evolved and all the necessary protective gears have been provided to each of the district besides trainings for the poultry workers on bio safety and bio security measures are in progress in the districts.
Saved from: http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=cn&nid=318&ad=07-02-200
Dated: February 07, 2008 Thursday 28 Moharram 1429 A.H

 

[Treyfish]

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

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

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR bgColor=#f4faff><TD class=small_txt height=20>Bird flu hype a conspiracy to make money?</TD></TR><TR><TD>

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</TD></TR><TR><TD class=small_txt>PPA blames Rumsfeld?s ?commercial enterprise? for bird flu fears

Friday, February 08, 2008
By Imtiaz Ali

Karachi

Bird flu ?rumours? are affecting the poultry industry and causing financial losses of up to Rs300 million daily, former chairman of the Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA), Khalil Abbasi, said Thursday at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club.

?The bird flu hype is part of the media campaign of a US-based commercial enterprise, which has former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld as president. All of this is being done merely to boost the sales of its product ?tami-flu?,? Abbasi alleged. He said that the H5N1 (bird flu) virus was first detected in Scotland in 1960 and it still exists in Great Lakes area of the USA, but it was ?overplayed? when it hit Thailand and other Asian countries. ?Why are we assuming that the virus would turn ?vicious?? This is a fallacy because no human transmission has been reported so far in the world,? Abbasi said.

PPA chairman, Abdul Basit, said that since 2004, bird flu fears had caused losses worth billions of rupees to the poultry industry. This, he said, had resulted in the closure of 40 percent of farms. ?Hundreds of thousands of workers have lost their jobs only due to ?sensational news? because no human infection has been found so far in Pakistan,? Basit said.

The ?chicken crisis,? the PPA chairman claimed, was in the same list as the sugar, wheat and flour ?crises.? There are around 25,000 poultry farms in the country, employing over 1.5 million people with an investment of around Rs 200 billion. Approximately Rs 45 billion to Rs 50 billion worth of agricultural products and by-products are being used in poultry feed, the PPA chairman said, adding that the poultry crisis would ultimately compound the agricultural crisis.

A vaccine is available to effectively control the virus in birds, and effective use of this vaccine in Pindi, Islamabad and Abbotabad has controlled the disease in those areas. Karachi will follow suite soon, Basit said.

He said that around Rs 300 million were being spent on this vaccine annually in Pakistan.

The PPA urged the government to immediately implement the law for distance between farms in order to control the spread of the virus, provide subsidies on imports of the bird flu vaccine, and provide the medicine free of cost to affected areas.

Basit read out a statement issued by Bernard Vallet, director-general of the Paris-based Animal Health Organization. Vallet said that the risks of bird flu were ?over-estimated and fears of an imminent pandemic were non-scientific assumptions.?

Layer chickens were vaccinated and this is the first time that bird flu has infected broiler chickens, Dr Jalali said, adding that since the life span of broiler chickens was around seven weeks, farmers usually did not vaccinate them. He called for the implementation of a vaccination programme for the eight million broiler chickens in Pakistan, in order to prevent an outbreak of the virus.

One of the speakers at the press conference blamed the media for ?over-emphasizing? the fears of bird flu. This led to a heated exchange between poultry and health officials and journalists present there.:tiphat: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=95246
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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>

city diary | Well-cooked chicken is safe, says veterinary expert ​

</TD></TR><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD>Pindiwaal
</TD></TR><TR><TD>ISLAMABAD: The bird flu scare has adversely affected the poultry business in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi forcing people to avoid consuming chicken meat.

On the other hand, veterinarians believe the bird flu scare has been blown out of proportion and that there is no need to panic. According to them, it is a disease of birds and not a public health problem.

Dr Naeem, a veterinarian, dispelled the possible outbreak of bird flu in humans in Pakistan. "It can spread to other birds and is most infectious for chickens while humans cannot become infected unless they are in close contact with the infected and dying chicken," he said.

Dir Naeem, however, said poultry workers working in a bird-flu infected environment were exposed to the disease.

"About 90 to 100 percent infected birds die in a few days. Migratory birds may spread infection," he said, adding, "Eating well-cooked chicken is safe." Dr Naeem said fully cooked eggs should be taken. "Shun eating half-cooked eggs", he added

"This influenza virus cannot survive when grilled and, cooked at high temperatures. Current H5N1 influenza virus has affected once before.

The disease has affected so far birds in Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. As for migratory birds, they travel from North to South, but don't travel from East to West thus Pakistan does not come in this region," said Dr Naeem.

Last year, the poultry industry had to suffer losses to the tune of millions of rupees due to a bird flu outbreak in chickens, which led to culling of all the birds in the country.

The fresh outbreak of the virus in Thailand, Bangkok, Taiwan and some other countries in the neighbourhood of Pakistan has already been reported recently.

A media report quoting a spokesman for the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock suggested Pakistan was closely watching its poultry and hundreds of birds were screened each day but there had been no evidence of bird flu yet.

The ministry has been monitoring poultry farms and domestic and wild birds, the spokesman said.

Poultry farmers on the other hand, take great pains to explain that the Pakistani poultry, in cases where it may have become infected, carried a much milder kind of virus which could not harm humans.

Having said that, it is the pictures of poultry stock being dumped that influence the mind of the consumer more than all the assurances put together. The news about the bird flu outbreak has come at a particularly bad time for the poultry industry. It is the peak season, middle of winter.

The poultry industry tried to hush the matter up but he local media reported human deaths due to bird flu.

Media reports clearly state that the sales of poultry products have fallen and that the chicken dishes do not draw the kind of attention at meal times as these used to in the very recent past.

It seems that a large number of people have taken the news of bird flu outbreak in the Far East Asia seriously. They are willing to tolerate the pang of being separated from their chickens for the time being.:tiphat: http://www.thepost.com.pk/IsbNews.aspx?dtlid=143522&catid=17
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[Treyfish]

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

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

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Directives for prevention against bird flu​

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</TD></TR><TR><TD>Associated Press of Pakistan
</TD></TR><TR><TD>KARACHI: In view of presence of bird flu virus, City Nazim Mustafa Kamal has directed the CDGK's Health Department to create awareness among people so as to scratch away their doubts so that they do not pay heed to rumours and misconceptions.

In the light of his directive, the City Government's Health and Agriculture department has started continuous monitoring of poultry farms in the city.

CDGK Health department has appealed to citizens to adopt all necessary preventive measures for protection against bird flu virus.

It said after touching the poultry meat, hands should be fully washed with soap and water while after cutting the meat into pieces, the knife and the place be properly washed with soap.

It said the chicken meat be cooked at a temperature above 70 degrees centigrade. It said in case of appearance of symptoms, the patient should take rest and affected person be immediately taken to Abbasi or Civil Hospital. Health department directed the poultry meat shops to wear protective uniform while selling meat, keep the place of slaughtering of chicken and hands clean while people should not buy chicken looked sick.

:tiphat:
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http://www.thepost.com.pk/NatNews.aspx?dtlid=143440&catid=2

 

[Treyfish]

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

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

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

Bird flu a seasonal virus: expert​

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</TD></TR><TR><TD>Nazia Hameed
</TD></TR><TR><TD>ISLAMABAD: Bird flu comes to Pakistan every year with migratory birds, a senior medical expert said.

"There is no perfect system to control bird flu as migratory birds from various cold regions fly during these days to other parts of the world including Pakistan,":smartass: said Dr Rafiqul Hassan Usmani, the chief veterinary officer at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

Usmani said the ministries of food and agriculture had released guidelines and launched awareness campaigns as precautionary measures against avian influenza.:tiphat:


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http://www.thepost.com.pk/NatNews.aspx?dtlid=143440&catid=2

 

[Treyfish]

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

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

Culling on in Assam, Bihar
NEW DELHI, Feb. 7: In the wake of the bird flu outbreak in West Bengal, culling of birds is in progress in Assam and Bihar. But a plan of action is still awaited in Orissa and the Jharkhand government is engaged in the process of identifying the priority areas of culling.
The Centre had last week sent a directive to Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam and Orissa to kill birds in villages falling within five km of their borders with West Bengal as a precautionary measure.
These states have been instructed to ban and prevent entry of poultry or poultry related products from West Bengal. Other states have also been put on alert. SNS:tiphat: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=6&theme=&usrsess=1&id=189437t

 

[Treyfish]

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

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

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

152 poultry farms examined to check bird flu​

</TD></TR><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD>Staff Reporter
</TD></TR><TR><TD>LAHORE: Live Stock District Officer Dr Muhammad Nawaz informed the District Coordination Officer Muhammad Ijaz that 152 poultry farms were examined and 578 samples had been sent to the Veterinary Research Institute. According to a press statement issued here Thursday, the DCO ordered to Live Stock District Officer to get registered all the poultry farms lying in the provincial metropolis. He advised the already formed four teams to keep a vigilant eye on the farms and took all the protective measures after any case of bird flu came into their knowledge. Moreover, Live Stock DO informed DCO about the poultry sellers who were sent to jail after found selling unhygienic meat.
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:tiphat: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?usrsess=1&clid=31

 

[Treyfish]

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

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

Soil crisis hits Kerala duck farmers
Sangeetha Nair
KUMARAKOM (Kerala), Feb. 7: Keep your eyes open while on the backwaters from Alleppey to Kumarakom and you are bound to encounter Mr Jojo Theundiyil and his ducks. He whistles to them, tells them to get out of the way of an approaching Kettuvallam (houseboat) and they comply, all 10,000 birds! The scene is visually stunning but there is more to the relationship shared between Mr Jojo and his feathered friends than meets the eye.
Duck farming in the backwater is interlinked with the lives of paddy growers in Kuttanad. However, for the past two decades, the "rice bowl" of Kerala has been facing a crisis due to an increase in the salinity of the Kuttanad soil, caused by breaches along the Thanneermukkam bund.
Farmers are turning to other trades to earn a living, many are considering selling their river-front agricultural land to builders, leaving duck farmers like Mr Jojo in the lurch. ?My father told me bedtime stories that were adventurous, of road-trips, friends he made along the way and how he slept under the stars when the paddy season was over in Kuttanad. He would take the ducks to neighbouring Tamil Nadu on a four-month journey, making pit stops along the way. In the past, farmers welcomed the birds without a fee and they were allowed to feed on leftover rice grains after harvest. They act as biological pest control, its droppings enhance soil fertility, paddling of feet oxygenates water, stimulate roots and pull up weeds. I did as my father did, but my adventure ended when I realised that it was far too expensive to hire trucks and find skilled labourers willing to undertake the journey.?
The Kerala government has alleviated the problem to a certain extent by organising farm committees to cater to the needs of duck owners. Paddy growers from across the state phone-in and auction their land to duck farmers. A 250-acre land is jointly bought by 10 duck farmers for Rs 2 lakh. ?I pay my share for 22 acres, it would feed 10,000 ducks for about five days. The problem is that I can?t change the diet,? he said.:tiphat: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=6&theme=&usrsess=1&id=189433

 

[sharon sanders]

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

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

<table><tbody><tr><td>

Bird flu a seasonal virus: expert​

</td> </tr> <tr> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td> Nazia Hameed
</td> </tr> <tr> <td> ISLAMABAD: Bird flu comes to Pakistan every year with migratory birds, a senior medical expert said.

"There is no perfect system to control bird flu as migratory birds from various cold regions fly during these days to other parts of the world including Pakistan," said Dr Rafiqul Hassan Usmani, the chief veterinary officer at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

Usmani said the ministries of food and agriculture had released guidelines and launched awareness campaigns as precautionary measures against avian influenza.




http://thepost.com.pk/IsbNews.aspx?dtlid=143524&catid=17


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[HenryN]

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

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

KARACHI: Dead crows spark fears of bird flu spread



<CENTER>By Mukhtar Alam</CENTER>
KARACHI, Feb 8: Reports of unusual deaths of crows close to the two poultry farms in Gadap Town hit by the bird flu virus have sparked fears that the disease may have spread to other birds.

The poultry authorities had declared Uni farm and the Rangers? farm in Gadap affected and infected with the dreaded avian influenza (H5N1 strain).

Poultry sources said that the phenomena of swooping down of crows and a few other wild bird species, though limited, was being watched carefully by the human and wildlife health authorities concerned as there were chances that the dead birds had come into contact with the infected poultry in the area during the last few days.

?If any transmission of the avian influenza (AI) virus to crows and black kites is taking place in the area, then the spread of the deadly virus to others ? both humans and animals ? in Gadap and other areas could hardly be checked and as such, a mutation could be seen in a form that spreads easily amongst people, which could potentially spark a pandemic,? warned another source.

?It was the poor coordination between different government authorities and the farmers that the infected birds, which were declared AI affected about a week after their deaths, could not be disposed of in a scientific manner or buried underground. In time this provided an opportunity to wild birds to feast upon their carrion, along with the viruses,? said an expert.

About two years ago, a number of samples were taken from wild birds in Islamabad in a situation similar to Karachi; 50 per cent of the samples were found AI- positive, recalled a health practitioner.

While confirming the development, Dr Shakeel Mullick of the Sindh Health Department said that the high-ups in the government had also been informed of the situation, but in the meantime he would advise people in the area not to come into contact with the dead birds and also to ensure that other animals like cats and dogs did not eat these birds. ?The best way to cope with the problem is to bury the dead birds at the first instance,? he added.

The Sindh Government?s Director Poultry Dr Ali Akbar Soomro said that some random samplings had been done in the Gadap area and lab testing had been initiated at the laboratory of the livestock department in Karachi.

?If needed, we would also pass on the samples taken from dead crows to the National Reference Laboratory on poultry diseases at Islamabad for confirmation of various type of viral diseases, including Newcastle and AI,? he added, maintaining that the issue could be taken up at a high-level meeting on Saturday and some joint action plans could be drawn up involving the city government?s poultry department, Sindh?s wildlife department and others.

In the meantime, Dr Khalil Ansari, the Town Health Officer of Gadap, said that surveillance and data collection activities had been increased in the area in the wake of the AI virus? confirmation in farm birds.

?All the health officers and doctors at various dispensaries located in the town had been asked not to ignore cases belonging to poultry farms and conduct a detailed physical examination of patients with symptoms of pneumonia and suffering from fever,? he said.

?Workers doing well?

He added that the Ranger?s personnel who were engaged in farming in Gadap were also being checked at regular intervals and none of them had shown any adverse symptoms so far.

Furthermore, a senior official at the Civil Hospital Karachi said that three workers of Uni farm, who were admitted to the hospital last Friday, were also doing well in the isolation ward. He said that results of the samples taken from the workers in question were likely to be received from NIH Islamabad on Monday, following which the workers could be sent home if there was nothing objectionable in the report.

http://www.dawn.com/2008/02/09/local1.htm

 

[Treyfish]

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

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

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

No bird flu in interior Sindh​

</TD></TR><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD>App
</TD></TR><TR><TD>ISLAMABAD: No more case of H5N1 has been detected from any poultry farm of 18 districts of interior Sindh as confirmed by survey conducted by various teams constituted at each district level, provincial surveillance officer Dr Aslam Jalali said Saturday.

Talking to a TV channel he said bird flu had been reported only from two poultry farms of Karachi.He said although chicken was safe for cooking however half boiled eggs and half cooked chicken should be avoided as a preventive measure. Before cooking chicken hands should be thoroughly washed for 20 seconds with warm water. Utensils should also be washed with warm water, he added.
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:tiphat: http://thepost.com.pk/NatNews.aspx?dtlid=143817&catid=2

 

[Treyfish]

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

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

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No bird flu in Sheikhupura district: DCO​

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</TD></TR><TR><TD>Yaqoob Sandhu
</TD></TR><TR><TD>JANDIALA SHER KHAN: District Coordination Officer Sheikhupura Salman Ejaz has directed the departments concerned to adopt all-out measures to check the outbreak of bird flu in the district and has made it clear that negligence in this regard will not be tolerated.

He was chairing a meeting to review bird flu situation in the district. Among other the meting was attended by EDO( R) Usman Ahmed Chaudhry, DOR Javed Iqbal, EDO (Agri) Maqbool Randhawa and representatives of livestock , health and other departments. Briefing the participants the DO Livestock informed that the district was 100 percent free from bird flu and the department is fully prepared to meet any emergency.:tiphat:
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http://thepost.com.pk/NatNews.aspx?dtlid=143805&catid=2

 

[Treyfish]

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

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

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR bgColor=#f4faff><TD class=small_txt height=20>Crows did not die from bird flu?</TD></TR><TR><TD>

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</TD></TR><TR><TD class=small_txt>Sunday, February 10, 2008
By our correspondent

Karachi

Provincial Surveillance Officer on Avian Influenza, Dr Aslam Jalali, said that a special team of poultry research officers found only two dead crows, which was a ?normal thing?. He said these crows died of ?new castle disease? not of bird flu. He claimed the dead crows have nothing to do with the virus.

Dr Jalali said the farm owners tended to spread poisonous substance in order to kill rats. He added that the crows get infected with poisonous substance when they eat the dead rats, which is why crows are usually found dead near poultry farms.:magnify:

He said that, last year also, dead crows were found and later the laboratory test confirmed that they died of a poisonous substance. Nonetheless, he said, surveillance of the area continued.:tiphat: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=95611</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

[Treyfish]

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

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

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR bgColor=#f4faff><TD class=small_txt height=20>Don?t quote me?</TD></TR><TR><TD>

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</TD></TR><TR><TD class=small_txt>Sunday, February 10, 2008
? ?Reports about the outbreak of some deadly disease are rumours. There?s no truth in them?

?Faisal, 25 year-old worker at a slaughter house believes all the hue and cry about bird flu is mere hogwash.:tiphat: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=95625
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[sharon sanders]

Re: Pakistan-BF suspected humans 2/2/08 +

Re: Pakistan-BF suspected humans 2/2/08 +

<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="96%"><tbody><tr bgcolor="#f4faff"><td class="small_txt" height="20">CDA suggests measures to check bird flu spread</td> </tr> <tr> <td>

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</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="small_txt"> Monday, February 11, 2008
Islamabad

Following the threat of bird flu in the country, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has stepped up its efforts to avert its spread in the federal capital and has launched an awareness campaign in this regard.

Dr Saeed Ahmad, Senior Directorate of Health Services (DHS) said that the directorate has taken strict immediate precautionary measures against the spread of this deadly virus of avian influenza and has also advised the people to take possible steps to avert the spread of the disease.

A comprehensive awareness campaign has also been launched for the public, especially for the people attached with the poultry business and proper guideline have been provided to them to avoid the spread and to combat the disease efficiently.

The DHS has also displayed banners at different locations inscribed with various precautionary steps one should take to avoid the menace of this disease.

The residents have been advised to keep eggs at temperature below five degree centigrade and not to purchase broken or rotten eggs, which can cause the transmission of disease into human body as well. The experts have also advised the people to use eggs after washing them with antiseptic liquid.

People should avoid touching pets directly without wearing gloves. Chickens looking apparently sick should not be consumed.

According to the experts, the chicken should be cooked above 80 degrees Centigrade. “If properly cooked, there is no danger of contracting bird flu from poultry,” said the CDA health expert.

The DHS has also undertaken spray with special ant-viral chemical on different locations across the federal capital, particularly meat and chicken shops. The shopkeepers and poultry businessmen have been advised to cover the eatable items with fly nets and put the meat inside the shops.

People keeping pets have also been advised to get their birds vaccinated properly. The people concerned with poultry, meat and hotels/motels have been advised for proper vaccination from the Vaccination Section (DHS).

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=95806


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[sharon sanders]

Re: Pakistan-BF suspected humans 2/2/08 +

Re: Pakistan-BF suspected humans 2/2/08 +

<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="96%"><tbody><tr bgcolor="#f4faff"><td class="small_txt" height="20"> No positive bird flu case in Hyderabad</td> </tr> <tr> <td>

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</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="small_txt"> Wednesday, February 13, 2008
By our correspondent

HYDERABAD: District Coordination Officer (DCO) Aftab Ahmed Khatri has said Hyderabad is free from Avian Influenza (bird flu) and no positive case of this virus has been reported from the blood samples of poultry taken from all the registered poultry farms in the district.

He stated this while presiding over a meeting on adopting preventive measures to prevent Avian Influenza in the district on Tuesday.


Addressing the meeting, he said during the visits by the members of the Monitoring Committee and experts, all poultry flocks were found healthy and free of fatal diseases.

He said on the instructions of the District Nazim, during January 2008, 125 poultry farms had been inspected from where 429 samples were collected and sent to the National Reference Laboratory for Poultry Diseases, Islamabad, for analysis of Avian Influenza but all results were negative.

He said a committee would also ensure checking the health of workers of the poultry farms.

The DCO also directed the managements of all the poultry farms to strictly follow the vaccination programme and adoption of other preventive measures, including proper disposal of dead birds, if any, by burying in pits, protection of poultry farms from wild birds, use of masks, hand gloves, caps and goggles, avoid visitors in poultry farms and to ensure that poultry workers were not below 16 and above 60 years of age.

He said several schemes had been chalked out as part of an awareness programme regarding bird flu.


http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=96117

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[sharon sanders]

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

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

<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="96%"><tbody><tr bgcolor="#f4faff"><td class="small_txt" height="20">Soaring meat prices start to bite</td> </tr> <tr> <td>

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</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="small_txt"> Wednesday, February 13, 2008
By Xari Jalil

Karachi

Even before the high prices of flour, edible oil and other essential commodities could be brought down, the prices of meat have begun to sky-rocket, thus becoming a grave cause for concern for the consumers.

At present, the current rate of mutton is between Rs250/kg to Rs270/kg, while beef is between Rs160/kg to Rs170/kg. The price of chicken has gone down by 10-15 rupees, since the outbreak of bird flu was reported. In fact, a high alert against the epidemic was declared a week ago. An earlier outbreak of bird flu occurred in 2006 followed by several cases in 2007 and those being reported these days.

The problem is that as far as meat is concerned, the consumers are not left with many choices. Whereas many of the people cannot even afford to eat meat every day, the ones who can have been limited to buying the least expensive of them all, that is mutton,. However, many people continue to buy chicken also, given the fact that the prices of chicken have gone down.

Still, there are many who have been badly affected by these prices.

?How can we eat meat, when on the other hand, the prices of everything, starting from atta to oil are rising so fast that we can?t even cope?? said Hameeda from Orangi Town.

Her sister agrees. ?I live in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, and my husband works as a government servant, but believe me he is unable to make ends meet,? she fumed.

At the same time, there are others who are in two boats about the bird flu virus. ?It?s confusing, you know? We don?t know what to do at the end of the day. We have to eat something and I regularly read the papers, so I know about the flu. But even then how can we survive with red meat being this expensive?? asked Athar Husain, a resident of Rizvia Society.

Ali Kazmi, from the same area said that he has cut down on all meat, but ?it is impossible to eat vegetables every day.?

?Aren?t we human? We also have the urge to eat different things sometimes,? he added.

Rameez Raza became angry as he complained about the mismanagement and inefficiency of the establishment. ?I used to think that this government would make a difference. But here we are in a condition 10 times worse than we were in before. At least in other regimes, the prices of essential commodities didn?t reach the skies. At least we could survive,? he said.

The establishment does not seem to have done much lately to bring back stability and order in the commodity market. While the consumers are suffering, it seems that the government at the federal, provincial and city levels is taking its own time to deal with the crisis.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=96140

</td></tr></tbody></table>

 

[Treyfish]

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

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

<CENTER>

KARACHI: City govt to notify poultry bylaws soon</CENTER>
KARACHI, Feb 12: Naib Nazim Nasreen Jalil has said that the city government has enacted the sub-sections of the Poultry Bylaws, Regulations and Registration in Karachi.

A notification in this regard would be issued soon, she said while addressing an awareness programme on ?Bird flu and polio?, organised jointly by the provincial health department, the city government, the World Health Organisation, and Unicef at the KMC Building on Tuesday. Over 600 women councillors and city council members attended the programme.

Emphasising regular medical check-ups of children after every three months, Ms Jalil said anti-polio vaccination card of every child should be available at home.

She stressed the need for spreading awareness about bird flu and polio through women councillors. She also said that the stipend of women health workers be increased so that they could perform well.

Sindh Caretaker Minister for Health Fauzia Lari, who was chief guest on the occasion, said that the media should confirm a news item before releasing it.

?Now there is no threat of bird flu in the city,? she said, adding that the government had culled all birds of the two poultry farms in Gadap where the avian influenza virus was detected.

According to WHO?s representative Dr Khalif Balay, Karachi is affected from any disease or virus more than other cities owing to its mammoth population.

Sindh PDEPI representative Dr Salma Kausar said that no polio case has been registered this year in Karachi. The two patients detected with polio virus last year belonged to other cities. ?PPI:tiphat: http://www.dawn.com/2008/02/13/local4.htm

 

[sharon sanders]

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

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

Pakistan confirms new bird flu outbreak in NWFP

16 Feb 2008 12:11:15 GMT
<!-- 16 Feb 2008 12:11:15 GMT ## for search indexer, do not remove --> Source: Reuters
<!-- AN5.0 article title end --><script language="JavaScript" src="http://www.alertnet.org/bin/js/article.js"></script><input value="13" name="CurrentSize" id="CurrentSize" type="hidden"><!-- Pakistan confirms new bird flu outbreak in NWFP --><!-- Reuters --> ISLAMABAD, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities have detected an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in chickens in a part of the northwest where the country recently had its first human death from the virus, a government official said on Saturday.

The new outbreak was found in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the official said. "Samples from a poultry farm sent to us from Abbottabad have tested positive for the virus," Food and Agriculture Ministry official Rafiq-ul-Usmani said, referring to a town in the province.

"We have already started culling at the farm." Several outbreaks of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in poultry and other birds have been found in NWFP and the capital, Islamabad, since it was first detected in Pakistan in early 2006. Pakistan confirmed its first human death from the virus in an area near Abbottabad in December. Authorities confirmed two outbreaks at separate poultry farms in Pakistan's biggest city Karachi, in the south, early this month. Health authorities tested 12 workers from the farms for the H5N1 virus, but all of them proved negative. The president of the Pakistan Poultry Association, Abdul Basit, said the outbreaks had badly hit the industry, which he estimated was worth 200 billion rupees (around $3.2 billion). "The industry employs about 1.5 million people and losses in February alone are close to 4 billion rupees." Some Pakistanis have stopped eating chicken but the bird flu outbreaks have not caused general public alarm.
(Reporting by Augustine Anthony, editing by Tim Pearce)


http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL15514.htm

 

[sharon sanders]

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

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

New Animals/Poultry thread for Pakistan:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?p=134159&posted=1#post134159

This thread is now closed.