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| India Declared Bird Flu Free |
| Precautionary measures deemed effective |
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Ahmad Qisai (qisai)  |
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Published 2006-08-15 07:48 (KST) |
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It is now official: India is bird-flu free country. The Indian government declared itself on Saturday that India is a "bird-flu free country" based on the report of the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL). The report has been sent to the France-based international agency OIE for formal international acceptance of India's status.
The outbreak of this deadly desease was detected in India early this year. The H5NI virus made inroads into the poultry farms of India in the early months of 2006. The traces of the virus were found in poultry farms in Navapur, Maharashtra and soon created confusion and scare among the people.
Even though the trace of the virus was found only in the Navapur area, precautionary measures have been taken all over India. Tests have been conducted on suspected livestock in the poultry farms to confirm the outbreak of the disease. And after a series of specific tests from 279 poultry samples it was confirmed that the bird flu has finally hit India.
Responding to this deadly threat of bird flu, the Maharashtra government, with support from New Delhi, cordoned off a 3-kilometer radius around infected farms at Navapur. All transport and trading of poultry was banned in the area. Immediate culling and vaccinations of livestock were taken in infected areas to prevent the spread of the virus. Any unusual sickness or death among poultry was reported to the Centre.
At the same time, the Indian government has stockpiled 50,000 courses of Tamiflu and was procuring another 20,000. Medicine to treat 1,100 people has immediately been sent to Maharashtra and Gujarat. In Delhi, all poultry entering the city was routed through the wholesale market in Ghazipur. Big hospitals like AIIMS were ready with isolation wards and protective gear.
This instant and widespread culling of the poultry and destruction of poultry products, disinfection of the affected areas and administration of the Tamiflu drug to farm workers and other persons apparently helped in preventing the disease from being transmitted to human beings. According to an Indian official in the central body dealing with the crisis, since the March outbreak there has been no incidence of bird flu in the country. Samples collected from all states where there was a suspicion of avian influenza had tested negative. Furthermore, there have been no reported cases of bird-flu in India the past two and a half months.
Avian flu is believed to have come to India through migratory birds who flock here in their tens of thousands each winter from as far afield as Siberia and western Europe. Early onset of summer this year gave immense help in India's fight against the desease. The change of weather prevented the possibility of the migratory birds to come and stay in India for a long period thus preventing any prolonged direct contact with local birds.
The natural cycle of weather from winter to summer and the immediate responses from the Indian government prevented the spread of the deasease thus allowing India to declare itself as a birdflu free county.
However, authorities remains alert and had issued an alert warning for next winter, especially at the country's 200 or so migratory bird sanctuaries. Because scientists fear the deadly H5N1 strain found in the latest outbreak of bird flu in India (April 2006) could evolve into a virus which can pass easily from person to person, triggering a pandemic that could kill millions. Although the virus is reported to transmit from only birds to human, a suspected incident of human-to-human transmission was reported from Indonesia where at least five members of a family were killed by the disease.
Thus to avoid any eventuality in this matter, the Indian government has taken all necessary and preventive steps to ensure that no outbreak of bird flu ever surface again in India. For now, while still awaiting for the approval from the France based OIE for formal international acceptance of India's status as a bird flu free country, the Union Heath Ministry declared India a bird flu free country.
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| A version of this article also appears on the author's blog at ahmadqisai.blogspot.com |
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©2006 OhmyNews
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