The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : "Let experts panel decide bird flu cases"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 23, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

"Let experts panel decide bird flu cases"

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: A team of three or four experts should investigate every suspected case before confirmation of any incidence of bird flu, the National Egg Coordination Committee has said.

"It is better to have a panel of experts deciding, rather than one person, because if it is a panel, there will be greater responsibility," it said.

Reacting to reports of samples being sent abroad for testing, the NECC said the move had "no meaning" because it was not known what samples were sent and what tests conducted.

Arguing against the system of relying on the opinion of one laboratory, be it in India or aboard, the committee said it had been insisting on a panel of experts for long.

Given the importance of poultry in agriculture and economy, the future of such an important industry, on which over 18 million persons depend, could not be left to be decided on the basis of a single laboratory's test.

"If possible, in future, the Government should set up a second laboratory within the country, adequately equipped for testing of bird flu so that a second opinion will be available before confirmation," the committee said.

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