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Ban on shuttlecock imports to stay

NEW DELHI: The Central government has said that it would not lift the ban imposed on import of feathers and shuttlecocks from bird flu-affected countries. Media reports have said the curb has badly affected badminton tournaments in the country. The ban has been in place since February 2004.

However, there is no ban on import of feathers and shuttlecocks from countries that are not affected by bird flu.

According to the Department of Animal Husbandry officials, the ban was imposed as it was feared that the feather follicles of birds may contain pieces of skin, meat and traces of blood and could be a potential source of infection if the feathers were collected from infected birds.

Secondly, since the droppings of the infected birds tend to contain large amount of virus which remain “infective” for at least three months, the decision to ban feathers and shuttlecocks would remain. “In a poultry house, the bird feathers get soiled with the droppings on the floor. Such soiled feathers are also a potential source of infection,” the officials said.

They said the process of disinfection of feathers to make them safe from the bird flu infection was under study at the World Organisation for Animal Health, the apex international body for animal health.

“Hence it is not considered appropriate to lift the ban. It is presumed that the concerned authorities would have made alternative arrangements to source the shuttlecocks, since the ban has been in place for three years,” the officials said.

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