The Hindu : `Bird flu outbreak may not be contained soon'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004

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National

`Bird flu outbreak may not be contained soon'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 16. Senior officials of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have warned that though India and other countries in the SAARC region were free of the bird flu virus, they continued to face the possibility of transmission from the affected neighbouring countries.

N. Kumara Rai, Director, Communicable Diseases at WHO's South East Asia Regional Office, and Hans Gerhard Wagner, Senior Animal Protection and Health Officer, FAO, told reporters here that based on the experience in Vietnam and Thailand, it could be said that the outbreak was not going to be contained in one or two months.

The two earlier had a day-long meeting with senior officials of the health and animal husbandry departments of the SAARC countries. The emergency meeting was convened by the SAARC Secretariat and hosted by India. Chaired by the Union Health Secretary, J.V.R. Prasada Rao, the meet was attended by the officials of all SAARC countries, including Pakistan.

Asked about the threat perception to India from Pakistan, as there had been an outbreak of bird flu in that country in December, Mr. Rao and the WHO and FAO officials noted that for the past one month the country had not reported any outbreak among poultry and also there had been no human case. That was why the entire SAARC region was considered to be free of the virus now. Since the virus continued to circulate in the neighbouring region, all SAARC countries should continue to be on the alert.

In a resolution adopted at the end of the meeting, the participants agreed to strengthen the mechanisms for surveillance, recording, reporting, diagnosis and management of the disease through exchange and pooling of expertise and resources.

The "New Delhi Resolution," also reaffirmed the decision taken by India and the other countries to enforce a temporary ban on import of live poultry, poultry meat products, eggs and egg products and other by-products, poultry vaccines and medicines as well as poultry feed from countries affected by the disease besides imposing a temporary ban the import of exotic pet birds from all countries. Mr. Rao said no time limit was being set for the ban. It would be in force as long as the threat perception continued. Also, the ban was not all-inclusive. Each country could adopt its own set of measures, taking into consideration its own perception of the threat.

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