India: It’s Spreading

[ukcz]

Originally Posted by Pixie

I asked him if any bird infected by the virus could fly long distances. His answer was an emphatic "No".

Wrong answer, as in that is just plain untrue!

[Clytie]

Chicken Death Probe

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
The Telegraph, Calcutta, India
http://www.telegraphindia.com/106021...r%20/%20target=

New Delhi, Feb. 13: Scientists at the high-security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal are investigating the cause of death of several thousand chickens in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar district over the past week.

The laboratory received six dead birds and many faecal samples on Saturday from animal husbandry authorities monitoring the outbreak in Nandurbar that has claimed at least 15,000 birds, director Hare Krishna Pradhan said.

Four of the six birds appeared to have died of Marek’s disease, a cancerous condition caused by a herpes-like virus in poultry, Pradhan said. “We’re analysing all the samples we’ve got, and hope to have a clearer picture by Wednesday morning.”

Pradhan said animal husbandry officials suspect the chickens died of Ranikhet, an infectious poultry disease caused by a virus. Three years ago, it had claimed more than 10,000 birds in north India, he said.

In the past year, the Bhopal laboratory has screened nearly 30,000 tissue and faecal samples from birds to rule out the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

[Theresa42]

Chickens die in thousands; govt sees no bird flu
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2006 02:59:37 AM]

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government is doing its best to calm fears of a possible avian flu outbreak in the state after thousands of poultry chicken were reported to have died over the past few weeks along the Maharashtra-Gujarat border. Following reports of the deaths, the government issued a release stating the disease killing the chicken is likely to be Newcastle — commonly known as Ranikhet disease.

DL Shivankar, under secretary in the state’s animal husbandry ministry, told ET that there is no need for panic. :re: “We have sent the samples to a testing facility at Bhopal, just to rule out the possibility of bird flu,” he said. Results of the tests are awaited.

The government official stressed that vigilance had been stepped up and that no case of avian flu has been reported so far. Meanwhile, the latest reports indicate that the H5N1 strain of influenza, which causes avian flu, has spread to Nigeria. The disease which originated in Asia has now emerged in some countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The confirmation of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in domestic birds in northern Nigeria marks the further geographical spread of this virus.

Although all evidence to date indicates that the virus does not spread easily from birds to humans, the World Health Organisation has advocated careful monitoring of the situation. The Indian government claims to have drafted an influenza preparedness plan. Officials in government told ET that efforts were on to co-ordinate with Saarc and Asean countries.

“Periodic reviews are taken by the minister of health and the minister of agriculture. Sectoral co-ordination between the department of health and the department of animal husbandry has been established. A joint monitoring group, under the chairmanship of DG, DGHS, has been formed, which meets regularly to review the situation,” a government official said.

According to sources, technical guidelines have been developed on clinical management, laboratory and public health measures. The department of agriculture has also developed guidelines for prevention, reporting and spread of the disease in poultry. Laboratories of the ICMR and NICD have been identified for laboratory diagnosis of human cases, officials said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...ow/1416900.cms

[Bruce]

8 confirmed cases of bird flu in India

Agencies
Posted online: Saturday, February 18, 2006 at 1638 hours IST
Updated: Saturday, February 18, 2006 at 1654 hours IST

New Delhi, February 18: The Animal Husbandry department has confirmed eight cases of bird flu in Maharashtra. Three reports have come in from the Nandurbar district of Maharashtra.

This is for the first time that this disease has been reported in India. However, there are no reports of infected people.

A team of microbiologists have been stationed at the poultry and various tests are being performed. The area has been sealed off and no one is being allowed inside so that the virus does not spread.

The Animal Husbandry department will also be informing the people about the hazards of the disease and ask them to maintain complete hygiene

http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=63075

[Bruce]

8 confirmed cases of bird flu in India

Agencies
Posted online: Saturday, February 18, 2006 at 1638 hours IST
Updated: Saturday, February 18, 2006 at 1654 hours IST

New Delhi, February 18: The Animal Husbandry department has confirmed eight cases of bird flu in Maharashtra. Three reports have come in from the Nandurbar district of Maharashtra.

This is for the first time that this disease has been reported in India. However, there are no reports of infected people.

A team of microbiologists have been stationed at the poultry and various tests are being performed. The area has been sealed off and no one is being allowed inside so that the virus does not spread.

The Animal Husbandry department will also be informing the people about the hazards of the disease and ask them to maintain complete hygiene

http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=63075

[Bruce]

Indian officials say have confirmed country’s first bird flu virus case


(AFP)
18 February 2006

MUMBAI - Indian government officials on Saturday said that a laboratory had confirmed the country’s first outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in chickens.

“Fifty-thousand birds have died. We have sent dead birds to the highest level laboratory in (the state of) Bhopal. They have confirmed H5N1 bird flu” in chickens, said Anees Ahmed, the minister for animal husbandry for western Maharashtra state."
He said the outbreak was at a chicken farm of some 200,000 birds at Nandurbar near the border with Gujarat state.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/February/subcontinent_February764.xml&section=subcontinent&col=

[viamede]

So its true then....Hell has frozen over...thought so...

[Bruce]

2 lakh Tamiflu 200.000 for 1,080,264,388 persons
Or should one say 20.000 treatments for 1,080,264,388 persons


http://ia.rediff.com/money/2006/feb/18hetero.htm
Hetero to deliver 2 lakh Tamiflu capsules

February 18, 2006 18:47 IST

Amid reports of bird flu cases in India, Hyderabad-based Hetero Drugs on Saturday said it has got an order from the Centre for an additional two lakh capsules of Tamiflu.

"We would be delivering another two lakh capsules in the next three-four days," Srinivas Reddy, director, Hetero Drugs told PTI from Hyderabad.

1st suspected case of bird flu in India

He said the company, which has been granted licence by the government for bulk manufacturing of the drug in Indian market, have "already made available five lakh capsules to it (the government)".

Reddy said the company has Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient of the drug equivalent of one million capsules in stock.

"It would need seven days for the API to be made into capsules, which could then be supplied wherever needed," he said.

Reddy said the company had supplied the avian flu medicine to the government at a rate of Rs 710 per strip of ten capsules.

----------
Lakh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

A lakh (also spelled lac or laksha) is a unit in a traditional number system, still widely used in Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, and Pakistan. One lakh is equal to a hundred thousand (105). A hundred lakhs make a crore or ten million.

This system of measurement also introduces separators into numbers in a place that is different from what is common outside India. For example, 3 million (30 lakh) would be written as 30,00,000.

[HenryN]

Maps updated

http://www.recombinomics.com/H5N1_Map_2006_AfricaF.html

http://www.recombinomics.com/H5N1_Ma..._QinghaiL.html

[HenryN]

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02...5N1_India.html

[Bruce]

India testing humans for bird flu virus-official
18 Feb 2006 15:34:10 GMT
Source: Reuters


NEW DELHI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - India is testing eight human beings for the H5N1 bird flu virus while four more are being kept under observation, federal Health Secretary P.K. Hota told Reuters on Saturday.

"We are testing eight humans for bird flu virus in the affected area in Maharashtra. Their blood samples have been sent to testing. Four, including three children, are being kept under observation," Hota said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP264824.htm

[mariella]

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/02/18/1385707.htm

India warns against eating poultry

(UPI Top Stories Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)Indian officials are warning against eating poultry after at least 50,000 birds were found dead with bird flu and possibly 400,000 more were found infected.

The BBC reports more than 500,000 chickens were to be culled to stave off a larger outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.

Indian officials have confirmed the chickens on farms in the western Maharashtra region had the virus and regional Minister Anees Ahmed said 200 veterinarians would head to the area where the virus was found.

A 2-mile perimeter has been quarantined to stop any further contamination of livestock.

No humans have come down with the bird flu in the region but a warning is posted against eating poultry as a precaution.

The World Health Organization reports more than 90 people have died worldwide from the deadly strain of the bird flu since it was found in 2003.

It hasn't mutated to pass easily from human to human, as health experts fear, and most of the deaths are attributed to eating or being around infected birds.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]

I sure hope I did this right, as it is the first time I ever tried to get an article here, not just a link.

[Bruce]

Avian bird flu: 8 people admitted to hospital
[ Saturday, February 18, 2006 09:52:19 pmPTI ]

DHULE (MAHARASHTRA): Eight people were on Saturday admitted to a government hospital at Navapur, for suspected bird flu and about 80 blood samples were sent to laboratory for test, health department sources said here.

Around two lakh chickens were destroyed at Navapur and buried as a precautionary measure, on Saturday.

There are 57 poultries around Navapur.

Sources said since past two-days death of at least 20,000 chickens was reported at Navapur in Nandurbar district of north Maharashtra.
Official sources here said eight of the 11 chicken samples sent to Bhopal's laboratory for confirming Bird Flu were found positive.

Meanwhile, Animal Husbandary, Commissioner, Vijay Kumar, on Saturday conducted a meeting of concerned officials to discuss steps to prevent the further spread of the disease.

Navapur Municipal Council has issued notices to the mutton shop-owners to close-down their shops with immediate effect, sources added.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...ow/1419936.cms

[Sally Furniss]

Originally Posted by Kissa

Navapur Municipal Council has issued notices to the mutton shop-owners to close-down their shops with immediate effect, sources added.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...ow/1419936.cms

Are they saying they have bird flu in sheep?

[Bruce]

Originally Posted by Doofa

Are they saying they have bird flu in sheep?

I ques so, WHO knows, im not on the buss.

[Bruce]

No need to panic, govt. mistaken

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...46,curpg-1.cms
PUNE: The death of thousands of birds in Nandurbar district is not due to bird flu, as declared by the state government, according to Anuradha Desai, chairperson of the National Egg Co-ordination Committee and Venkateshwara Hatcheries Private Ltd (VHPL), the country's largest poultry company.

"It is some mistake. I am surprised and shocked at how the government has declared that it is bird flu on the basis of just one report," Desai said.

Speaking to TOI, Desai said there has not been a single case of bird flu at the Poultry Diagnostic and Research Centre, a sister concern of Venkateshwara Hatcheries.

According to her, Union agricultural minister Sharad Pawar has agreed for samples to be sent to another laboratory in India and one abroad for a second opinion. Desai said the deaths are more likely due to a seasonal disease called Ranikhet or Newcastle, which usually occurs at the onset of summer. "There's no need for alarm as it is a routine situation", she said.

Moreover, the poultry farmers in the region, where maximum deaths occurred, neither discarded the birds in time nor vaccinated them against Ranikhet, she said.

"In this case, they kept some of the birds for 100 weeks because the prices of eggs were good. Therefore, the effect of the vaccination, which usually lasts for 72-weeks, would have run out," Desai said.

[Bruce]

Delhi has a familiar disease

RASHEED KIDWAI

Bhopal, Feb. 18: Rapiddissemination of information – that’s the cornerstone of the fight against any contagion, but not if Delhi can help it. The High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal, the only one in Asia equipped to deal with bird flu, developed cold feet for a few hours this evening after confirming that the deadly virus has arrived in India. “Yes, it is bird flu,” an official confirmed in the afternoon. Hours later, however, he was less sure: “It was a preliminary report and we need to confirm it.” The official had been taking calls from across the country. However, sources in Delhi said a few calls from the capital made the officials of the lab clam up. The sources said some decision-makers in Delhi were upset with the laboratory for creating a “scare”. They feared that businesses such as poultry, tourism and aviation would be hit and conveyed their displeasure to the lab. By night, however, an official at the lab again confirmed that some samples had tested positive. “But there is no need to panic,” he added. http://www.telegraphindia.com/106021...ry_5866151.asp

[viamede]

First suspected human death from bird flu in India
Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:22 AM IST

AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) - A man has died of suspected bird flu in western India, a top official said on Sunday, a day after India reported its first bird flu infections in poultry.

"A poultry farm owner died on Friday in Surat district. Local tests have confirmed bird flu but we have sent samples to the national laboratory. A final report is awaited," Vatsala Vasudev, the top district administrator of Surat in western Gujarat state, told Reuters.

Gujarat is adjacent to Maharashtra state, where 50,000 birds died in past days and tests on some of the fowl proved positive for the H5N1 avian flu virus.

The dead man, Ganesh Sonarkar, 27, was a resident of Nandurbar district of Maharashtra state, Vasudev said. She did not elaborate why Sonarkar had travelled to Surat.

"An alert has been sounded across Gujarat following the outbreak," the official said.
A local health official in Surat, O.P. Tiwari, said Sonarkar was admitted to a hospital in the town about 10 days ago and was "provisionally diagnosed with bird flu".

"He died on Friday," Tiwari said.

Adding to the sense of crisis, blood samples of eight people have also been sent for testing to a virology laboratory in the western city of Pune. Four other people, including three children, were under observation. It was not clear if Sonarkar was among the eight being tested.

"We sent blood samples of these people who are associated with poultry because they had cold and cough," Vijay Satbir Singh, Maharashtra's top health official, told Reuters.

"We want to make sure they don't have any kind of flu."

Health workers in Maharashtra began culling about 300,000 chickens and vaccinating birds on Sunday.

Maharashtra, India's richest and most industrialised state, has hundreds of poultry farms and officials say there are around 900,000 fowl in Nandurbar alone.

T.P. Doke, the state's director of health services, said health workers were also distributing protective clothing, masks and preventive drugs to poultry workers.

The H5N1 virus is known to have infected 171 people worldwide since late 2003, killing 93 of them. Two hundred million birds across Asia, parts of the Middle East, Europe and Africa have died of the virus or been culled.

So far most victims of bird flu have had direct or indirect contact with chickens, but there are fears the virus might mutate into a strain easily passed among people, causing a pandemic in which millions could die.



http://in.today.reuters.com/news/new...a-237323-2.xml

[viamede]

First suspected human death from bird flu in India
Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:22 AM IST

AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) - A man has died of suspected bird flu in western India, a top official said on Sunday, a day after India reported its first bird flu infections in poultry.

"A poultry farm owner died on Friday in Surat district. Local tests have confirmed bird flu but we have sent samples to the national laboratory. A final report is awaited," Vatsala Vasudev, the top district administrator of Surat in western Gujarat state, told Reuters.

Gujarat is adjacent to Maharashtra state, where 50,000 birds died in past days and tests on some of the fowl proved positive for the H5N1 avian flu virus.

The dead man, Ganesh Sonarkar, 27, was a resident of Nandurbar district of Maharashtra state, Vasudev said. She did not elaborate why Sonarkar had travelled to Surat.

"An alert has been sounded across Gujarat following the outbreak," the official said.

A local health official in Surat, O.P. Tiwari, said Sonarkar was admitted to a hospital in the town about 10 days ago and was "provisionally diagnosed with bird flu".

"He died on Friday," Tiwari said.

Adding to the sense of crisis, blood samples of eight people have also been sent for testing to a virology laboratory in the western city of Pune. Four other people, including three children, were under observation. It was not clear if Sonarkar was among the eight being tested.

"We sent blood samples of these people who are associated with poultry because they had cold and cough," Vijay Satbir Singh, Maharashtra's top health official, told Reuters.

"We want to make sure they don't have any kind of flu."
Health workers in Maharashtra began culling about 300,000 chickens and vaccinating birds on Sunday.

Maharashtra, India's richest and most industrialised state, has hundreds of poultry farms and officials say there are around 900,000 fowl in Nandurbar alone.

T.P. Doke, the state's director of health services, said health workers were also distributing protective clothing, masks and preventive drugs to poultry workers.

The H5N1 virus is known to have infected 171 people worldwide since late 2003, killing 93 of them. Two hundred million birds across Asia, parts of the Middle East, Europe and Africa have died of the virus or been culled.

So far most victims of bird flu have had direct or indirect contact with chickens, but there are fears the virus might mutate into a strain easily passed among people, causing a pandemic in which millions could die.



http://in.today.reuters.com/news/new...a-237323-2.xml

[HenryN]

Map updated

http://www.recombinomics.com/H5N1_Map_2006_AfricaF.html

[HenryN]

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02..._Fatality.html

[Sally Furniss]

NEW DELHI: More than a day after the first case of bird flu was detected in the country, most city hospitals say they are yet to receive instructions on tackling it.

"We will hold a meeting on Monday and then decide what to do. From what we understand, there is no need for ear-marking any hospital wards.

As far as medicines are concerned, they are needed for those who have been directly exposed to the infected birds which hasn't happened here as yet," said principal secretary (health) Rakesh Mehta.

Officials at Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Hospital in Hari Nagar, Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) in central Delhi and Infectious Diseases Hospital in Kingsway Camp, said they had received no instructions from the government on how to handle bird flu.

"There have been no instructions as yet. When we get them, we will prepare the hospital," said Dr M C Nath, medical superintendent (MS) at DDU Hospital.
MS, LHMC, G K Sharma also said: "We haven't received any instructions from the government." Officials at other hospitals said they are following the same protocol they did at the time of the SARS scare in 2003.

"We know what general guidelines to follow like using personal protective gear while handling such patients, but we are awaiting specific guidelines from the higher authorities."

MS, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, N K Chaturvedi, said: "We are in a state of general preparedness like we always are for such an eventuality."

Delhi gets most of its chicken from states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab. "The city doesn't have any major poultry farm.

There are three to four places which have more than 20,000 birds and another 40-odd places which have 1,500-2,000 birds in Mehrauli, Alipur and Nangloi," said animal husbandry department director K L Khurana.

"The birds which arrive in the city are slaughtered within a day or two. The virus has an incubation period of about two-27 days. So in that sense, the city is actually contributing to restricting the virus,' he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...ow/1420718.cms

[Snowy Owl]

Bird Flu Confirmed in Three New Countries: India, France, Egypt
NEW DELHI, India, February 20, 2006 (ENS) - India announced its first cases of bird flu on Saturday and said rapid response teams will cull about 700,000 chickens in the western part of the country to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. Countries reporting bird flu for the first time on the weekend include France and Egypt.
In the western state of Maharashtra, the virus has affected as many as 52 poultry farms at Nawapur, in Nandurbar district in the northern part of the state.
About 50,000 birds have died in the area in the last few days, Ministry of Agriculture's Department of Animal Husbandry said samples of affected poultry from Navapur tested positive for the highly pathogenic H5N1 viral strain.
Animal Husbandry Minister Anees Ahmed said, "Yes, it is confirmed. The disease is H5N1. It has come to Maharashtra. We are treating it as an emergency."
An emergency meeting of the Cabinet Secretariat was called Sunday in New Delhi.
Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said a Committee composed of the Cabinet Secretary and other Union secretaries are constantly monitoring the situation. He told reporters in New Delhi that the National Disaster Management has swung into action. Patil said expressed confidence that the efforts will succeed in containing the disease.
Animal Husbandry Commissioner S.K. Bandhyopadhya said in New Delhi that no case of avian influenza in human beings has been reported so far, but as he was speaking a farmer died of suspected avian flu in the northwestern state of Gujarat.

Upma Chawdhry, Joint Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, and Dr. S.K. Bandhopadhyay, Animal Husbandary Commissioner, brief the media on bird flu in India, in New Delhi on Sunday. (Photo courtesy Government of India)

Union Health Secretary P.K. Hota said that eight people are being tested for the H5N1 virus in Maharashtra, while four more, including three children, are being kept under observation. Maharashtra Public Health Minister Vimal Mundada said 20 teams of health department officials are conducting a house-to-house survey to see if anybody is affected by the disease.
The Navapur sub-district hospital has been strengthened with 15 isolation beds dedicated staff identified for treating cases. Four ventilators have reached Navapur along with two anesthetists.
As of Saturday, there were six cases of respiratory infection with mild fever who have history of poultry deaths in their backyard farms.
Culling operations are being carried out on four Gujarat commercial farms within the infected zone in the southern district of Surat. Backyard poultry will also be culled. Veterinary teams have been deployed to survey the neighboring area for signs of sickness and death in birds.
Disposal of the dead birds is being carried out immediately after culling. Cleanup operations and disinfection will take place immediately, officials say.
Officers of the government of India and the state governments Saturday conducted detailed training in control and containment operations. On Sunday, 45 teams were deployed to start culling operations. Another 15 teams are ready to go wherever they are needed.

India is the fifth largest producer of eggs in the world. Livestock and poultry is one of the fastest-growing economic sectors in the country. (Photo courtesy FAO)

The Central Rapid Response Team has educated the cullers on proper of use of personal protective equipment and self care, and the health status of cullers is being monitored continuously. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has dispatched additional 9,000 doses of Tamiflu and 2,000 sets of personal protective equipment to Maharashtra and 2,000 doses of Tamiflu and 1,000 personal protective equipment to Gujarat.
In Indonesia, bird flu claimed its 19th human victim when tests showed a 23 year old market worker who died a week ago had the H5N1 virus.
His death takes the number of known human cases of the disease worldwide to 171 and the death toll to 93. Two hundred million birds across Asia, parts of the Middle East, Europe and Africa have died of the virus or have been culled.
In Europe, French Agriculture Minister Dominique Bussereau said late on Friday there is a "90 percent" chance that several dead wild ducks found dead on Monday near Lyon are infected with the deadly viral strain. Test results for one of the ducks showed the presence of bird flu, the H5 virus, and tests for the H5N1 strain were underway, Bussereau said.
French President Jacques Chirac arrived at Palam Air Force Station in New Delhi Sunday for a state visit. Chirac flew to India after he participated Saturday in the first France-Thailand Economic Summit in Bangkok. He said the French government is ready to act on a possible bird flu outbreak.

French President Jacques Chirac and his wife Bernadette Chirac arrive Sunday at Palam Air Force Station. They are welcomed by Union Science and Technology Minister Shri Kapil Sibal and Minister of State for External Affairs Shri Anand Sharma. (Photo courtesy Government of India)

Last week, France extended its ban on keeping poultry outside to the entire country, saying there now is a higher risk from bird flu following recent cases in Austria, Germany, Italy and Greece. The Egyptian government appealed for calm Sunday after poultry infected with the H5N1 strain of bird flu was detected in several governorates, including Cairo.
Local authorities have reported cases of bird flu in seven governorates, from Dakahlia in the northeast of the Nile Delta to Qena in the far south. At least 10,000 birds have been culled at a chicken farm north of Cairo.
On Sunday, Egyptian officials closed the Cairo Zoo and seven other state-run zoos around the country, after 83 birds died there, at least six from the H5N1 strain of bird flu.
Cabinet spokesman Magdi Radi said that no humans have been diagnosed with the lethal virus.
Minister of Health Hatem el-Gabali told the Middle East News Agency that a consignment of Tamiflu will arrive in Egypt by the end of this week.
The Ministry of Health in Iraq has confirmed the country’s second fatal case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. A 39 year old man from the northern province of Sulaimaniyah developed symptoms on January 18 and died on January 27.
He was the uncle of the country’s initial case, a 15 year old girl who died January 17, and provided care for her during her illness. He had a documented history of exposure to infected domestic birds.

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2...6-02-20-01.asp

[Sally Furniss]

Snowy Owl,
Is that a picture of a chicken with bird flu.

[Sally Furniss]

India says bird flu under control

20.02.2006 - 06:14
By Krittivas Mukherjee

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's first outbreak of bird flu in poultry is under control, health authorities said on Monday, as they launched a door-to-door check for people with fever in a western district.

The world's second-most populous country, known for its poor healthcare system, was testing about 30 people for avian flu after 50,000 birds died in Maharashtra state's Nandurbar district and tests on some fowls showed H5N1 bird flu.

"It (the bird flu) is under control and there is no need to panic. We are culling all chickens in...the affected area," T.P. Doke, director of the state's health services, told Reuters from Nandurbar.

"Thousands of birds have been culled and eggs destroyed since yesterday (Sunday) and more will be killed in the next few days."

Nepal has banned poultry imports from India after the outbreak of bird flu in its giant southern neighbour, a Nepali government official said on Monday.

Earlier, India's Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss had said between 300,000 and 500,000 birds would have to be slaughtered.

Amid fears that the disease could pass to humans, the government said on Sunday it had found no case of human avian influenza after preliminary tests on a dead farmer who was suspected to have been the country's first human victim.

Doke said health workers and volunteers had fanned out in villages around 52 poultry farms in Nandurbar to carry out a door-to-door check for patients reporting fever, cough or cold.

"The house-to-house search will eliminate chances of any one going undetected," he said.

The authorities were distributing protective gear and preventive drugs to hundreds of poultry workers. Blood samples from poultry workers reporting fever and cold had been sent to a virology laboratory in the western city of Pune.

"We have quarantined two persons, including a girl after they showed flu-like symptoms. Their blood and sputum samples have also been sent for testing," Maharashtra's top health official, Vijay Satbir Singh, said.
BARE HANDS

A Reuters photographer in Nandurbar said health workers wearing blue overhauls, anti-viral masks and goggles were culling chicken by wringing their necks or mixing chemicals in chicken feed.

Television images showed dead birds being dumped in pits covered up by heavy earthmovers. The empty coops were being sprayed with disinfectants.

On Sunday, health workers trying to cull birds met with some resistance from poultry farmers, but they began cooperating after authorities offered monetary compensation for every bird killed.

Poultry workers have been warned against culling chicken without protection after television images showed many of them using their bare hands and little protective gear to bury thousands of culled chicken.

In Maharashtra's bustling capital and India's commercial hub Mumbai, civic officials kept vigil in markets selling poultry, checking for dead or sickly birds and asking traders to report any case of bird deaths.

Maharashtra, India's richest and most industrialised state, has hundreds of poultry farms and officials say there are around 900,000 fowl in Nandurbar alone.

The H5N1 virus is known to have infected 171 people worldwide since late 2003, killing 93 of them. Two hundred million birds across Asia, parts of the Middle East, Europe and Africa have died of the virus or been culled.

So far most victims of bird flu have had direct or indirect contact with chickens, but there are fears the virus might mutate into a strain easily passed among people, causing a pandemic in which millions could die.

Indian analysts have warned if the outbreak is not contained the economic costs to Asia's third-largest economy -- which is forecast to grow around 8 percent in the financial year to March 2006 -- would be "very, very high".

(Additional reporting by Adeel Halim in NANDURBAR)
http://www.swisspolitics.org/en/news...ews_id=6486150

[Sally Furniss]

The Hindu
Some stalls in the city had no customers at all on Sunday
Chickens are supplied to Mangalore from farms in Puttur, Buntwal and Ullal
Mangalore consumes about 1.5 lakhs chickens a day

Mangalore, Feb 20: The usual Sunday crowd at chicken shops was thin and some shops had no customers at all, owing to news about the outbreak of bird flu in the country.
The usually crowded market places wore a deserted look on Sunday morning. Chicken shop owners, some of whom had already "prepared" the birds for delivery, were beginning to wonder about the sudden drop in customers, when they heard about the cases of bird flu reported in the country.
Mangalore consumes about 1.5 lakhs chickens a day says Hamid, a wholesale dealer.
Birds from neighbouring districts are brought to the city in trucks every Friday Farms in Puttur, Buntwal, Ullal and Moodbidri supply chicken to Mangalore regularly.
Chicken stalls in Urva Market, Kadri and other places also witnessed a drastic drop in sales on Sunday morning.
The last time the bird flu alarm was raised, local chicken dealers organised a "chick fest" in the city where chicken dishes were sold at low prices.
But now, such ventures might not be enough to draw customers.
Recently, Vice-Chancellor of Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University R.N. Sreenivas Gowda had said that Indian poultry is immune to bird flu and that the West was looking to India to meeting their poultry demands.
http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_...t+in+the+City+

[Sally Furniss]

Bird flu: Jharkhand on high alert


Indo-Asian News Service

Ranchi, February 20, 2006



All district hospitals in Jharkhand have been asked to prepare special wards as the state government has gone on high alert to deal with the possible outbreak of bird flu.

The health department has also been told to set up a helpline for people seeking information on the avian flu.

At a high level meeting hurriedly called on Sunday by development commissioner T Nandkumar, officials were given a crash course on the symptoms and preventive measures of the virus.

Officials were particularly asked to keep a close watch on places like Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dumka where migratory birds arrive.

All 22 district medical officers have been asked to constitute separate wards in government hospitals and stock medicines to deal with emergencies.

News of the outbreak of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza from Nandurbar district in Maharashtra led to chicken sales dipping in most parts of the state.

"Sales have gone down drastically -- by almost 60 per cent in just two days," said Umesh Singh, president of the Jharkhand Poultry Association. Most hotels and restaurants have stopped making chicken dishes and switched to mutton, prices of which have increased by about 40 per cent.

Known to spread to human beings, the H5N1 strain of bird flu has so far resulted in nearly 100 human casualties across Southeast Asia, mostly in Vietnam. It has been reported in seven countries.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/1...0900030009.htm

[Sally Furniss]

Summer heat could defeat bird flu virus
By: Vrushali Lad
February 20, 2006 Chickens at a poultry farm in Navapur, where thousands of birds have been culled following an outbreak of avian flu. Public Health Minister Dr Vimal Mundada acknowledged that high temperatures could contain the virus
AP PhotoThe onset of summer in Maharashtra could wipe out the bird flu virus, according to a Mumbai doctor, who says the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus cannot survive temperatures above 39 degrees Celsius.

“While residents of northern Maharashtra are suffering under extreme heat and dry winds, these very conditions will save them at this time,” said Dr T N Ganesh, a veterinarian at a private pharmaceutical firm in the city.

He added, “We are lucky that the virus has broken out just as we are experiencing the onset of summer. The H5N1 strain will die out the moment temperatures touch 39oCelsius.”

Public Health Minister Dr Vimal Mundada said, “This is a very technical point. But we have information that weather conditions will also go a long way in containing the virus.”
http://ww1.mid-day.com/news/city/200...ary/131309.htm

[ukcz]

So to kill it via cooking you need 70C temperatures, but it's only 39C in Mumbai? Given Indonesia still had a problem at similar tempertures, I think we can put this down to wishful thinking.

[Sally Furniss]

Ageed ukcz, the powers that be use anything to keep the public from panicing.