Jalandhar, October 19
Count you chicken’s before or after they hatch. If Animal Husbandry officials are to be believed, the avian flu, popularly known as the bird flu, is knocking on the region’s door. But ill-preparedness on the part of the government departments in checking the entry of the foreign epidemic along with conflicting views of the scientists and authorities over the issue may prove lethal for livestock, including water fowls, poultry and mammals. Exotic, migratory birds, the government says, may soon bring the fatal viral disease to your nearest wetland. But how sure are they?
The panic as well as the confusion was evident at a hurriedly convened meeting of state and Central government secretaries, commissioners, veterinary experts and top scientists here today.
While scientists repeatedly suggested the urgency of testing samples of birds and getting quick results through local laboratories, the secretaries and commissioners of Central government departments said they were helpless since all regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratories were ill-equipped to perform the crucial tests.
“Only a laboratory in Bhopal is authorised to test samples of the flu-affected birds from all over India,” Dr A.B. Negi, Joint Commissioner, Livestock Health Sciences, Government of India said. “Since the Bhopal laboratory has all systems in place to prevent any possible infection to the staff performing the tests, permission to conduct the tests anywhere else cannot be given.”
The scientists and veterinary experts also suggest that specimens of the virus, taken either from droppings, blood samples, saliva of living birds or tracheas, lungs, spleens, cloacae or brains of dead birds must be maintained on an adequate pH of 7.2 coupled with low temperatures till the testing is done, so as to get correct results.
Sources in the Animal Husbandry Department reveal that all such equipment or resources for the required testing are available in the region.
Interestingly, none of the officials from the Department of Animal Husbandry or Forests present in the meeting could confirm whether the affected birds had already arrived in the country or not.
Dr A.B. Negi, Joint Commissioner, Livestock Health Sciences, Mr D.S. Bains, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry and host of other officials from Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh present on the occasion also seemed to be completely ignorant. The common answer was, “These birds were supposed to arrive in October and might already have descended on the Harike Pattan.” Who will sound the alarm then?
Dr D.R. Sharma, Dean, Veterinary Sciences, Punjab Agricultural University said that the safety of the domestic birds was top priority and prompt action was a must. “In case the avian virus is found in a flock of birds, the entire flock will have to be eliminated by fumigation to stop the virus from spreading.” The virus, he says, is highly contagious: it can spread through water where the affected birds might leave their droppings.
The prominent scientists who attended the meeting included Dr Vibhu Prakash, Scientist, Bombay Natural History Society and Dr A.S. Dhillon, Professor of Poultry Pathology, Washington State University.
