Government well equipped to handle bird flu: Indian minister
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
New Delhi, Feb 22, IRNA
India-Bird flu-Minister
Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramdoss has issued a fervent appeal to the public not to panic at the arrival of bird flu in India as the government was well equipped to handle any eventuality.
"It is a fact that the bird flu has arrived in India. But I request the media not to spread panic, but spread awareness," Ramdoss said as he addressed a press conference.
Ramdoss sought to allay fears that had gripped the entire populace and gave the impression that the situation was well under control and not as bad as it was being made to appear.
He confirmed that there has been no death of any human on account of the disease and only three birds have been found positive for the H5N1 virus from the Nandurbar district of Maharashtra.
The minister assured that money would not be found wanting even if the cost of containing the disease ran into millions and the cabinet had already approved around a USD 23 million budget which could be used for tackling bird flu cases.
"The Health Ministry has taken adequate measures to contain the human cases of avian influenza if it has to happen. I have been regularly reviewing the situation," Ramdoss said.
The minister said the government proposed culling of 3 to 5 lakh birds and, if need be, the number could go up to one million.
The Union Health Ministry has dispatched 11,000 doses of Tamiflu and 3,000 sets of personal protective equipment to Maharashtra and Gujarat.
To prevent panic sales of Tamiflu, the only known drug to be reasonably effective against bird flu, the Centre will ban its over- the-counter (OTC) sale. The drug can lead to side effects if taken indistriminately.
The minister recalled that the World Health Organization had issued an alert that bird flu could spread to other countries, including India, after an outbreak of the avian influenza virus was first detected in the Republic of Korea in December 2003.
Meanwhile, the Indian Railways, Air India and domestic carrier Indian Airlines have decided to ban serving of chicken dishes and eggs.
The current bird flu crisis has hit the industry very hard and there are no chances of its revival in the next six months, with the local industry in Navapur, Maharashtra, losing nearly Rs 20 crore.
In 2002, a similar outbreak of poultry disease like Ranikhet also left hundreds of birds dead resulting in a huge drop in prices from Rs 60 per broiler to Rs 45.
"A majority of the small poultry farms could not sustain the losses and subsequently were shut down. Today only 52 of the 80 poultry farms are surviving resulting in huge losses."
Production has also gone down drastically from 15 lakh birds annually to 12 lakh. In the case of eggs, the daily production from 12 lakh has gone down to 8 lakh.
There are more than 3 million people involved in the 35,000 crore poultry industry in India.
Following the outbreak of bird flu in Navapur, Maharashtra on Saturday, Sri Lanka and Pakistan banned poultry imports from India.
Sri Lanka banned imports of poultry and poultry feed from India until further notice. Poultry products are a significant part of the Sri Lankan food balance sheet. Its annual per capita consumption rose from 3.51 kg in 2000 to 4.5 kg in 2005, one of the highest in the South Asian Association of Regional Countries' (SAARC) region.
According to industry sources, about 80 percent of poultry feed requirements are met by imports from India.
Bird flu is a highly contagious disease which is caused by the H5N1 virus. Infection occurs through contact with poultry (chickens and eggs) and chances of infection are high among catering staff or people handling raw meat and eggs.
A close watch is being kept on the progress of the disease in other parts of the country and further orders will be issued depending upon the progress of the disease.
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