Nepal - bird flu in poultry/animals/wild birds

[Giuseppe]

Re: Bird flu (H5N1) confirmed in Nepal

Highly pathogenic avian influenza, Nepal (1/16/2009) [OIE]

Highly pathogenic avian influenza, Nepal

[Original PDF Document at LINK.]

Information received on 16/01/2009 from Dr Mainali Purushottam Prasad, Director General , Department of Livestock Services , Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives , Kathmandu, Nepal

-- Summary

Report type Immediate notification
Start date 08/01/2009
Date of first confirmation of the event 16/01/2009
Report date 16/01/2009
Date submitted to OIE 16/01/2009
Reason for notification Reoccurrence of a listed disease
Date of previous occurrence 12/1996
Manifestation of disease Clinical disease
Causal agent Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus Serotype H5N1
Nature of diagnosis Laboratory (advanced)
This event pertains to the whole country

-- New outbreaks
Summary of outbreaks: Total outbreaks: 1
Outbreak Location and Affected population: MECHI (Nagaar Nagarpalika, Jhapa) : backyard poultry

Total animals affected: Species - Susceptible - Cases - Deaths - Destroyed - Slaughtered
* Birds - 13000 - 14 - 14 - 0 - 0

Outbreak statistics: Species - Apparent morbidity rate - Apparent mortality rate - Apparent case fatality rate - Proportion susceptible animals lost*
* Birds - 0.11% - 0.11% - 100.00% - 0.11%

* Removed from the susceptible population through death, destruction and/or slaughter

-- Epidemiology
Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection Unknown or inconclusive

-- Epidemiological comments
Culling is planned on 17 January 2009.

-- Control measures
Measures applied Quarantine
Movement control inside the country
Zoning
Disinfection of infected premises/establishment(s)
Vaccination prohibited
No treatment of affected animals

Measures to be applied Stamping out

-- Diagnostic test results
Laboratory name and type Central Disease Investigation Laboratory (National laboratory)
Tests and results: Species - Test - Test date - Result
* Birds - polymerase chain reaction (PCR) - 16/01/2009 - Positive

Laboratory name and type VLA Weybridge, United Kingdom (OIE?s Reference Laboratory)
Tests and results: Species - Test - Test date - Result
* Birds - real-time PCR - 16/01/2009 - Positive

-- Future Reporting
The event is continuing. Weekly follow-up reports will be submitted.
-
-----

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu (H5N1) confirmed in Nepal

Updated map

http://www.google.com/accounts/Logout?service=local&hl=en&continue=http://maps.google.com/maps/ms%3Fie%3DUTF8%26hl%3Den%26msa%3D0%26msid%3D106484775090296685271.00045da2c3c24f4d59de3%26t%3Dp%26ll%3D26.719854,88.310852%26spn%3D1.076959,1.672668%26z%3D9%26mid%3D1232127815

(OIE coordinates are somewhat south and west of actual outbreak due to use of only 2 decimal points in coordinates)

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu (H5N1) confirmed in Nepal

Nepal reports bird flu outbreak
A health worker disinfects a vehicle coming from India into Nepal, in Kakarvitta January 16, 2009. Nepal said on Friday it had found the H5N1 bird flu in poultry, the first time the deadly virus has surfaced in the Himalayan nation, prompting culling operations in the country's southeast. PHOTO/ REUTERS
By REUTERSPosted Friday, January 16 2009 at 17:29

KATHMANDU

Nepal said on Friday that it had found the H5N1 bird flu in poultry, the first time the deadly virus has surfaced in the Himalayan nation.

“The virus has been found in chicken and ducks,” Agriculture minister Jai Prakash Prasad Gupta told Reuters.

Bird flu was reported in poultry from the crowded southeast Nepal town of Kakarvitta, bordering India, officials said.

The epicentre of the outbreak is close to India’s West Bengal state, which has been fighting to contain intermittent outbreaks of the virus in poultry since last year.

Hari Dahal, a Nepalese Agriculture ministry spokesman, said no bird flu symptoms had been noticed among people in the affected area. He said the virus could have come from India.

Veterinary workers were sent to the region on Friday to cull 13,000 poultry in five days to try to control the virus within a 3 km radius of Kakarvitta town.

Officials said they sent seven dead birds for testing in a laboratory in London after a dozen birds, all backyard poultry, died mysteriously in Kakarvitta about a week back.

Neighbouring India has culled millions of chicken and ducks to contain the virus since its first outbreak in 2006, but has reported no human infections.

Experts have warned the H5N1 virus might mutate or combine with the highly contagious seasonal influenza virus and spark a pandemic that could kill millions of people across the world.

The virus does not infect people easily now but continues to pop up in flocks of birds in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa and could mutate into a form that passes from one person to another.

According to the World Health Organization, H5N1 bird flu has infected more than 390 people in 15 countries and killed at least 247 of them since the virus resurfaced in Asia in 2003.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/world/-/1068/515712/-/sekovk/-/index.html

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu (H5N1) confirmed in Nepal

<TABLE class=txt cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="95%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=txtheading>Bird flu comes to Nepal, confirms UK laboratory:13,000 birds to be culled in 5 days</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=news>Prakash Acharya/ Govinda Chhetri</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news>Kathmandu/Jhapa January 16:

There has been an outbreak of bird flu for the first time in the country today. The deadly H5N1 strain of virus has been detected at Kakarbhitta, which shares a border with West Bengal in India, in Jhapa district.
An emergency cabinet today meeting declared the affected zone ?bird flu crisis-hit area?.
?No bird flu symptoms in human have been detected till now. But we are planning to monitor the health of the people in the affected area. Preliminary estimates suggest that the virus will be eliminated within a month,? said Tek Bahadur Thapa, secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC).
The government has decided to cull 13,000 chickens and birds in a radius of three-km area
over the next five days. The government has also promised to give compensation to
the poultry owners.
A blanket ban has also been imposed on rearing and consuming poultry products in the affected area for the next three months. Health and surveillance teams from the capital are being dispatched to tackle the crisis.
?The Rapid Response personnel are coming from Kathmandu. The affected area has a local and broiler chicken population of 2,000 and 10,000, respectively,? said Dr Dilip Sapkota, chief, District Livestock Services Office.
Seven samples were sent for test to OIE Reference Laboratory, Weybridge, UK, on January 11. The results proved to be positive today.
Initially, the test was conducted at the Laboratory of Department of Livestock Services, Tripureshwor, on January 7.
Mysterious death of 11 chickens, which belonged to Ramesh Karki, a resident of Mechinagar Municipality, triggered panic. Subsequent, samples were sent for test.
?The government is yet to figure out the source of the virus. We will urge the Indian government to help stop the import of poultry products,? said Dr Prabhakar Pathak, director general, Department of Livestock Services.
Nepal has banned import of poultry products from India on January 5 after the outbreak of the disease was reported at Matigara in neighbouring Darjeeling district. It is about 36 km from Kakarbhitta.
According to Thapa, the poultry industry accounts for four per cent Gross Domestic Product. Around 65,000 people are associated with the trade.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullstory.asp?filename=aFanata0sa2qzpla7Wa3pa.axamal&folder=aHaoamW&Name=Home&dtSiteDate=20090117

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Bird flu (H5N1) confirmed in Nepal

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01...5N1_Nepal.html

Commentary

H5N1 Spread to Nepal Raises Surveillance Concerns
Recombinomics Commentary 14:05
January 16, 2009

"The virus has been found in chicken and ducks. We have confirmed it is H5N1 virus," Agriculture Minister Jai Prakash Prasad Gupta told Reuters.
Bird flu was reported in poultry from the southeast Nepal town of Kakarvitta, bordering India, officials said.

The above comments confirm H5N1 spread to a border town in the Jhapa district of Nepal. This spread is not surprising. The large outbreak in Suliguri raised concerns that H5N1 could be reported in adjacent areas, including Nepal (see updated map). Suliguri is surrounded by nature reserves and wild bird sanctuaries and almost exactly 1 year ago H5N1 was confirmed in West Bengal. Thus, outbreaks in Assam and West Bengal last month suggested H5N1 would spread as the temperature dropped. On a related note, the January 14 update from MOFL in Bangladesh reported culling of 5229 birds in Dhaka.

Nepal has announced pans to cull all birds within 3 km of the outbreak. Two districts in India are within 3 km of the outbreak (Kishanganj in Bihar and Darjeeling in West Bengal) and additional spread is likely.

West Bengal has already expressed concern about culling in the adjacent Darjeeling Hills due to political unrest, and wild birds (local resident as well as migratory) do not respect borders.

As the temperature drops in the area, more outbreaks are expected and confirmation will be largely dependent on testing Nepal announced the H5N1 positives one day after the reported deaths, which is significantly faster than India, which sends a limited number of samples to distant testing centers.


.

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu (H5N1) confirmed in Nepal

AVIAN INFLUENZA (05): NEPAL, FIRST OUTBREAK
*******************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

[1]
Date: Fri 16 Jan 2009
Source: KantipurOnline [edited]
<http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?nid=175656>


Bird flu detected in Jhapa
--------------------------
For the 1st time in Nepal, bird flu virus has been detected in Kakarbhitta
in the eastern district of Jhapa. After the detection of bird flu virus,
the government on Thursday [15 Jan 2008] decided to cull birds within the
range of 3 km [1.8 miles] from the site.

Declaring the 10 km [6.2 mile] region of Kakarbhitta 'an emergency area,'
the cabinet meeting took the decision to kill the birds today as 6 out of
every 7 chickens brought from Mechi Municipality-10, Kakarbhitta, were
found to have been infected with the avian flu.

The meeting has decided to be on a high alert at the areas ranging 10 km
from Kakarbhitta to prevent the bird flu from spreading, the minister for
information and communications Krishna Bahadur Mahara said. He added that
the government has also decided to direct the local administration to reuse
the equipment used in slitting the birds only after the sterilization process.

The meeting was held at the prime minister's office in Singhadurbar.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture is due to give more information on
the detection of bird flu in Kakarbhitta at a press conference at the ministry.

--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Dan Silver

******
[2]
Date: Fri 16 Jan 2009
Source: Reuters [edited]
<http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL133818.htm>


Nepal reports 1st H5N1 bird flu outbreak
----------------------------------------
Nepal said on Friday [16 Jan 2009] it had found the H5N1 bird flu in
poultry, the 1st time the deadly virus has surfaced in the Himalayan
nation, prompting culling operations in the country's south east. "The
virus has been found in chicken and ducks. We have confirmed it is H5N1
virus," agriculture minister Jai Prakash Prasad Gupta told Reuters.

Bird flu was reported in poultry from the crowded south east Nepal town of
Kakarvitta, bordering India, officials said. "We have declared that area
crisis-hit," said Krishna Bahadur Mahara, minister for communication and
information.

The epicentre of the outbreak is close to India's West Bengal state which
has been fighting to contain intermittent outbreaks of the virus in poultry
since last year [2008].

Hari Dahal, a Nepalese agriculture ministry spokesman, said no bird flu
symptoms had been noticed among people in the affected area. He said the
virus could have come from India.

Veterinary workers were sent to the region on Friday to cull 13 000 poultry
in 5 days to try to control the virus within a 3 km (1.8 miles) radius of
Kakarvitta town. "They have started killing all birds in the area," Gupta
said. "Since the outbreak in India, we were already alert."

Officials said they sent 7 dead birds for testing in a laboratory in London
after a dozen birds, all backyard poultry, died mysteriously in Kakarvitta
about a week back. "We got the confirmation today and are now seeking
international help to fight the outbreak," Gupta added.

Neighbouring India has culled millions of chicken and ducks to contain the
virus since its 1st outbreak in 2006, but has reported no human infections.
A senior Nepalese official said Nepal has asked India to help stop the
sneaking of poultry products into the Himalayan nation despite a ban
imposed after an outbreak of the virus in India's West Bengal.

According to the World Health Organization, H5N1 bird flu has infected more
than 390 people in 15 countries and killed at least 247 of them since the
virus resurfaced in Asia in 2003.

[byline: Gopal Sharma, Krittivas Mukherjee]

--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Mary Marshall

[An interactive map, showing all worldwide HPAI reported outbreaks in
avians since Jan 2008, is available on OIE's WAHID website, at
(choose the terrestrial disease 'Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza'). By
zooming in to the clustered outbreaks in north east India, one can see the
close proximity of the recent outbreak in Darjeeling, West Bengal, to
Nepal's border. This can also be seen in the map included in India's last
follow-up report (13 Jan 2009), at
<http://www.oie.int/wahis/public.php?page=single_report&pop=1&reportid=7675>.
- Mod.AS]

[see also:
Avian influenza (04): India (WB) 20090108.0080
Avian influenza (02): India (WB) 20090104.0034
Avian influenza (01): India (AS), Viet Nam 20090103.0023
2008
---
Avian influenza (132): India (AS) 20081231.4124
Avian influenza (120): India (WB) 20081217.3970
Avian influenza (118): China (HK), India (AS), OIE 20081215.3938 ]

....................arn/ejp/sh

[Shiloh]

Re: Bird flu (H5N1) confirmed in Nepal

Source: http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/in...s&news_id=1167

Bird flu detected , Mechinagar-10 declared crisis zone

PRABHAKAR GHIMIRE
KATHMANDU, Jan 16: The government has declared Mechinagar-10 area - where the first case of bird flu in Nepal has been detected- a crisis zone for three months in a bid to prevent any spread of the avian influenza to other parts of the country.

A meeting of the council of ministers held on Friday took the decision after the OIE Reference Laboratory in Weybridge, UK informed Nepali officials that six out of seven samples collected from a small farm in Mechi Municipality of Jhapa tested positive for H5N1, the bird flu strain that can spread from birds to humans.

?The cabinet has declared a Bird Flu Crisis Zone within a three kilometer radius bordering the Mechi river, Mechi municipality building in the west, Satighatta in the south and peripheral areas as an immediate measure to rein in the fatal disease, bearing in mind the sensitivity of the situation? Tek Bahadur Thapa, secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC) told a press conference. A 10km radius around the flashpoint will be kept under active surveillance. Officials have claimed that the bird flu virus will be eliminated from the area within a month.

SecretaryThapa also informed that all poultry products and related materials within the crisis zone will be immediately destroyed along with a ban on the rearing, distribution, processing, use and transport of those items for three months.

?We will start culling an estimated 13,000 chickens being reared in the affected zone from Saturday and the process will be completed within five days,? said Prabhakar Pathak, director general of the Department of Livestock which is closely watching the situation across the country. Thirteen Rapid Response Teams comprising 65 technicians, experts and medicos will be mobilized through a focal mission office based in Jhapa.

The government had sent samples of chicken for further testing in the sophisticated UK laboratory 10 days ago after the samples tested positive at the central laboratory at Tripureswore , Kathmandu. The government had sent the samples to the UK for diagnosis at the internationally accredited laboratory, as per the international protocol.

According to Pathak, the Rapid Response Teams will carry out mopping up operations at chicken farms after sealing off the area.

In a bid to save the poultry sector in which more than Rs 16 billion has been invested so far, the government has imposed restrictions on the transport of poultry products and related materials out of the area.

According to data from the Poultry Entrepreneurs? Forum, a poultry lobby, about 56.15 million broiler chickens and 3 million layers are produced annually by more than 2,500 poultry farm across the country. The annual egg production in the country stood at around 714.6 million pieces in fiscal year 2007/8 while chicken meat output was 58,315 tons. Poultry accounts for 4 percent of the GDP and the sector employs more than 65,000 people.



Published on 2009-01-16 18:23:39

[Shiloh]

Re: Bird flu (H5N1) confirmed in Nepal

Source: http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/?a...s&news_id=1166

Other places apart from crisis zone safe
SANGEETA RIJAL

KATHMANDU, Jan 16: Areas away from three kilometers radius from the affected areas is safe to use poultry products. Speaking at the press conference Dr Manas Kumar Banarjee, coordinator of Avian Influenza Control Project said that the transmission of the flu to the human body is rare incidents. "People in other parts can eat poultry products," he said.

He also said that the government has developed its own lab to deal with the flu if it transmits to human body. According to Dr Banarjee the people if get infected will develop sever fever and respiratory problem. However, only the people who have come in contact to the dead chickens, those who come in contact to the people who died of sever pneumonia in the area in recent days would come to the risk group. Chickens dropping transmits virus to human.

The ministry has also prepared a medical team to carry out regular medical examination of 65 people who will tackle with the chickens in the affected area. "All the health workers in the area have been trained about the flu," he said.

At present the Ministry of Health and Population will use B. P. Koirala Health Sciences as referral hospital in Eastern region, while Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu will be the referral hospital in Kathmandu.

Dr Banarjee also said that about 260 people in 14 countries in the world have died of the infection.

Participants at the program were served with the chickens.

According to World Health Organization Avian influenza is an infectious disease of birds caused by type A strains of the influenza virus. The disease occurs worldwide. While all birds are thought to be susceptible to infection with avian influenza viruses, many wild bird species carry these viruses with no apparent signs of harm.

WHO website further says the outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza that began in south-east Asia in mid-2003 and have now spread to a few parts of Europe, are the largest and most severe on record. To date, nine Asian countries have reported outbreaks (listed in order of reporting): the Republic of Korea, Viet Nam, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, the Lao People?s Democratic Republic, Indonesia, China, and Malaysia.

Published on 2009-01-16 20:20:36

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu (H5N1) confirmed in Nepal

<TABLE dir=ltr border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=468><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 10px" class=gulfBodyTitles align=left>Nepal reports bird flu outbreak</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px" class=gulfBodyTxt align=left><TABLE border=0 width=10 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle></TD></TR><TR><TD dir=rtl id=Comment class=imgcaption vAlign=top align=middle>Prabhakar Pathak, a government official, points out the area where bird flu has been detected during a news conference in Kathmandu yesterday</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>KATHMANDU: Nepal said yesterday it had found the H5N1 bird flu in poultry, the first time the deadly virus has surfaced in the Himalayan nation, prompting culling operations in the country’s southeast.

“The virus has been found in chicken and ducks. We have confirmed it is H5N1 virus,” agriculture minister Jai Prakash Prasad Gupta said.
Bird flu was reported in poultry from the crowded southeast Nepal town of Kakarvitta, bordering India, officials said.
“We have declared that area crisis-hit,” said Krishna Bahadur Mahara, minister for communication and
information.
The epicentre of the outbreak is close to India’s West Bengal state which has been fighting to contain intermittent outbreaks of the virus in poultry since last year.
Hari Dahal, a Nepalese agriculture ministry spokesman, said no bird flu symptoms had been noticed among people in the affected area. He said the virus could have come from India.
Veterinary workers were sent to the region yesterday to cull 13,000 poultry in five days to try to control the virus within a 3km (1.8 miles) radius of Kakarvitta town.
“They have started killing all birds in the area,” Gupta said. “Since the outbreak in India, we were already alert.”
Officials said they sent seven dead birds for testing in a laboratory in London after a dozen birds, all backyard poultry, died mysteriously in Kakarvitta about a week back.
“We got the confirmation today and are now seeking international help to fight the outbreak,” Gupta added.
Neighbouring India has culled millions of chicken and ducks to contain the virus since its first outbreak in 2006, but has reported no human
infections.
A senior Nepalese official said Nepal has asked India to help stop the sneaking of poultry products into the Himalayan nation despite a ban imposed after an outbreak of the virus in India’s West Bengal.
Experts have warned the H5N1 virus might mutate or combine with the highly contagious seasonal influenza virus and spark a pandemic that could kill millions of people across the world.
The virus does not infect people easily now but continues to pop up in flocks of birds in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa and could mutate into a form that passes from one person to another.
According to the World Health Organisation, H5N1 bird flu has infected more than 390 people in 15 countries and killed at least 247 of them since the virus resurfaced in Asia in 2003. – Reuters


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=266992&version=1&template_id=44&parent_id=24

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu (H5N1) confirmed in Nepal

Nepal confirms birdflu outbreak

News Desk
The Kathmandu Post
Publication Date: 17-01-2009





Nepal's government confirmed on Friday (January 16) the outbreak of Bird Flu (H5N1) virus in the Himalayan country.
The tests done in Nepal Central Veterinary Laboratory and UK?s OIE Reference Laboratory, Weybridge detected the avian virus in six out of every seven chicken brought from Mechi Municipality-10 quarantine office in Kakadbhitta, the ministry of agriculture and cooperatives said in a press release.
The Cabinet has declared the area within the range of 3 km from the quarantine office ?Bird Flu Emergency Area?.

The government took the decision as per the Natural Calamity (Relief) Act.
The Emergency Area includes areas within Mechi River in the east, Mechinagar Municipality building in the west, Nakkalbanda in the north and Shatighatta in the south.
As per the government decision, all the birds, avian-related substances, materials for poultry production and other concerning equipment, except those which can be sterilised, will be destroyed.
Nobody will be allowed to farm, transfer, produce, refine, sell, purchase and consume poultry-related materials until the emergency declaration is withdrawn.
The rightful owners of the fowls and concerning materials, if destroyed, will be compensated as per the Bird Flu Control Decree.
Informing about initiating immediate action to control and wipe out the outbreak, the ministry said it has preliminarily estimated that the virus can be eliminated within one month from the Emergency Area.
The department of livestock services has been directed to arrange active surveillance at the areas ranging 10 kms from Kakarbhitta to prevent the bird flu from spreading, minister for information and communications Krishna Bahadur Mahara said.
Nepal had managed to remain unscathed by the avian virus even after it was traced in neighbouring villages in India.

http://www.asianewsnet.net/news.php?id=3474&sec=1

[Laidback Al]

Re: Bird flu (H5N1) confirmed in Nepal

Veterinary workers were sent to the region yesterday to cull 13,000 poultry in five days to try to control the virus within a 3km (1.8 miles) radius of Kakarvitta town.

I have the center of Kakarvitta (Kakarbhitta) at 26.646429, 88.155055.

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu (H5N1) confirmed in Nepal

Nepal steps up culling in first bird flu outbreak
Updated at: 1055 PST, Saturday, January 17, 2009
KATHMANDU: Dozens of veterinary workers in protective suits descended on a town in east Nepal on Saturday to intensify culling of poultry to prevent the spread of bird flu after the H5N1 virus was first detected in the Himalayan nation.
"Teams with safety masks, head covers, body gowns, shoes, gloves and goggles have already been sent and they will intensify culling today or tomorrow," said Prabhakar Pathak, chief of the department of livestock services in Kathmandu on Saturday.
Bird flu was detected in chickens and ducks in the densely populated town of Kakarvitta, 275 km (172 miles), southeast of capital Kathmandu, authorities said on Friday.
About 13,000 poultry would be culled in five days to control the virus within a 3 km radius of the town, and the government would pay up to $5 for each chicken or duck that is culled, Pathak said.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=65382

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu (H5N1) confirmed in Nepal

Nepal steps up culling in first bird flu outbreak
17 Jan 2009 04:52:51 GMT
<!-- 17 Jan 2009 04:52:51 GMT ## for search indexer, do not remove -->Source: Reuters

<!-- AN5.0 article title end --><SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="/bin/js/article.js"></SCRIPT></SPAN><INPUT id=CurrentSize type=hidden value=13 name=CurrentSize> <!-- Nepal steps up culling in first bird flu outbreak --><!-- Reuters -->By Gopal Sharma
KATHMANDU, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Dozens of veterinary workers in protective suits descended on a town in east Nepal on Saturday to intensify culling of poultry to prevent the spread of bird flu after the H5N1 virus was first detected in the Himalayan nation.
"Teams with safety masks, head covers, body gowns, shoes, gloves and goggles have already been sent and they will intensify culling today or tomorrow," said Prabhakar Pathak, chief of the department of livestock services in Kathmandu on Saturday.
Bird flu was detected in chickens and ducks in the densely populated town of Kakarvitta, 275 km (172 miles), southeast of capital Kathmandu, authorities said on Friday, piling on problems for the Maoist-led government in the impoverished country.
The government, formed after the former Maoist guerrillas won the election in April last year, is already struggling with an acute shortage of electricity in the midst of a harsh winter, prompting several anti-government protests.
About 13,000 poultry would be culled in five days to control the virus within a 3 km radius of the town, and the government would pay up to $5 for each chicken or duck that is culled, Pathak said.
Flu symptoms had not been seen among people in the affected area yet, authorities have said.
"The outbreak is limited to one place and we have banned the movement of any poultry and products from there," Pathak said.
According to the World Health Organization, the H5N1 bird flu has infected more than 390 people in 15 countries and killed at least 247 of them since the virus resurfaced in Asia in 2003.
The epicentre of Nepal's outbreak is close to India's West Bengal state which has been fighting to contain intermittent outbreaks of the virus in poultry since last year.
India has culled millions of chickens and ducks to contain the virus since the first outbreak in 2006, but has reported no human infections. (Editing by Rina Chandran and Valerie Lee) (For the latest Reuters news on Nepal see: http://in.reuters.com, for blogs see http://blogs.reuters.com/in/)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL426791.htm

<!-- news ## for search indexer, do not remove -->

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu (H5N1) confirmed in Nepal

<TABLE style="PADDING-LEFT: 10px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="100%">Nepal asks for India's help to control spread of bird flu</ARTTITLE>
17 Jan 2009, 1335 hrs IST, PTI
</TD></TR><TR><TD>

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left><!-- google_ad_section_start -->KATHMANDU: Kathmandu has sought New Delhi's help to control spread of bird flu and asked India to stop the export of poultry products after the outbreak of the disease was confirmed in the eastern Nepal's Mechinagar Municipality bordering West Bengal.

During a meeting with Indian Ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood on Friday, Prime Minister Prachanda sought India's help for controlling spread of the disease, the embassy spokesman Chhiring W Sherpa said.

Sherpa told PTI that they also discussed a wide range of issues of mutual interest.

Matters relating to controlling bird flu and providing additional hydro electric power to Nepal, which is currently facing acute power shortage, were the key issues which figured during the talks, officials said.

They said that Nepal had also asked India to stop the export of chickens and other poultry products.

As 11 chickens died in Ward No 10 of Mechinagar Municipality near Kakarbhitta, samples of chickens were sent to OIE, Reference Laboratory, Weybridge, UK on January 11, which tested positive, the officials said.


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Nepal_seeks_help_to_control_bird_flu/rssarticleshow/3993326.cms

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu (H5N1) confirmed in Nepal

Nepali gov't declares country "bird flu affected"
+ - 11:48, January 17, 2009

Nepali government on Friday has declared Nepal as a "bird flu affected country", local news website myrepublica.com reported.
An emergency meeting of the cabinet held on Friday afternoon in Nepali capital Kathmandu has decided to exterminate all birds in the areas three kilometers from the Nepal-India border at Kakarvitta in Jhapa district, some 320 km southeast of Nepali capital Kathmandu.
According to the report, Nepali Minister for Tourism, Hisila Yami said that the government has decided to expedite surveillance in the areas 10 km from the Kakarvitta border.
The decision was made after the Avian Influenza had been detected in six out of seven samples of birds brought to Nepal from India.
The Cabinet meeting has also decided to be high alert at the areas around 10 km from Kakarvitta to prevent the bird flu from spreading.
Earlier, a meeting of the avian flu experts and government officials had also decided to deploy a central team to Jhapa district in eastern Nepal to take necessary measures to avoid the outbreak of the disease across the country.
Source:Xinhua

http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6575946.html