The Hindu : Front Page : After a lull, bird flu strikes in India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 26, 2007
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After a lull, bird flu strikes in India

Gargi Parsai

1.5 lakh birds to be culled in the next 10 days in Manipur village

No case of human infection
Situation under control: Centre

NEW DELHI: After a lull of 11 months, bird flu is back in India. An outbreak of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza was notified in a village near Imphal in Manipur on Wednesday after samples of affected birds tested positive at the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal and the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

Over 132 infected birds of a total flock of 144 from a single backyard poultry unit died in six days from July 7. About 1.5 lakh birds within a 5-km radius of the affected village will now be culled in the next 10 days. The Government will compensate farmers for the destruction of birds.

No case of human infection has been reported so far. The 21 family members in a cluster of three houses handling poultry and nine veterinary staff, who got exposed to infected birds, have been provided prophylactic cover and are reported to be healthy. A team of 20 doctors will monitor the health status of cullers. Although the source of the virus in the Manipur poultry has not been identified so far, the States bordering infected countries — Bangladesh, Myanmar, China and Pakistan — have been put on high alert to report any unusual mortality in birds and to strictly check illegal trading across the border.

Central Rapid Response Teams have been rushed to Manipur and containment operations have been initiated. Surveillance will be mounted in a radius of 10 km.

Union Animal Husbandry Secretary Charusheela Sohoni said here that the situation was “under control.” There was no need to panic and it was safe to consume well-cooked chicken and eggs.

She said the disease appeared to be localised and was limited to one backyard poultry unit in Chingmeirong village in East Imphal. There was no other report of unusual mortality or sickness in birds in the neighbouring areas, the districts of East and West Imphal, entire Manipur and any other place in the northeast. There were enough poultry vaccines.

According to Animal Husbandry Commissioner S.K. Bandopadhaya, the source of infection could be another infected bird, or bird feed or droppings of an over-flying migratory bird.

The viral strain had been identified as highly pathogenic H5. Detailed investigations and sequencing were being done to confirm whether it was the same ‘N-type’ strain that hit the Maharashtra tribal areas in 2006.

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