Back
Tamil Nadu
State to get two laboratories for detecting bird flu virus
| They are expected to be operational by 2010, says official |
INTERACTION: Arvind Goshal, Joint Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Government of India, (centre) with district Collectors in Coimbatore on Friday. —
COIMBATORE: Two laboratories for testing samples of avian influenza virus will be set up at Namakkal and Erode districts, according to Leena Nair, Principal Secretary, State Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department.
Speaking at a workshop for district Collectors on combating bird flu here on Friday, she said at present there were only two laboratories for testing bird flu samples at Bhopal and Bangalore.
By Setting up the facility at Namakkal and Erode, the delay in sending the samples to Bangalore or Bhopal could be avoided, said Arvind Goshal, Joint Secretary of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Government of India. The State had a poultry population of about 8.6 crore, he said. The virus could not be tested in an ordinary laboratory as it required a technical expertise, he said. The work on the laboratories would commence by June 2009 and they were expected to be operational by 2010. The recent outbreak of the flu in Assam and West Bengal could have been prevented had the authorities at the local level exercised proper control and containment measures, he said. The misconception that culling was a cruelty should be dispelled. With a fair compensation provided to poultry farmers, any resistance to culling could be dealt with.
The outbreak of bird flu in 49 districts in Bangladesh was of concern to India. Deliberations with Bangladesh were on to inform India whenever a case of bird flu was reported.
Five check-posts had been set up on inter-State roads in Krishnagiri, Vellore, Erode and Thiruvallur districts to monitor the movement of poultry birds and feeds. The government had also written to the Railways not to offload any poultry consignment without sterilisation.
© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu