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P.T. Jyothi Datta
Latha Venkatraman

Mumbai , Nov. 14

IS bird flu here already? Citing unsubstantiated reports of bird-flu in Chennai and West Bengal, scientists have now joined in to voice their concern on India being ill-prepared to deal with bird-flu, in the event of an outbreak.

"It (bird-flu) seems to have come," said Dr Ravindra Bapat, Chairman of Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd. Though uncorroborated, he said that incidents of avian-flu were being reported from across the country. Tests are being undertaken to check if it is the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, he said.

The virus is unstable and can mutate from one animal to another and into humans. Resistance is already developing to the two known drugs that are used worldwide. And while there are some measures being undertaken to monitor birds, he said the country needed continuous surveillance, quarantine systems, disposal methods for dead livestock, diagnostic facilities for testing and disinfectants.

"As a clinician, I am worried that we have no plan to tackle the seriously infected, moderately infected and those who can be treated as out-patients, in the event of an outbreak," he told Business Line.

Another official with the animal health department of a drug company also said that bird-flu cases were reported from different parts of the country, only it was still being tested whether it is the virulent strain.

The Indian poultry industry, however, is not convinced. There is no incidence of bird-flu in the country, so far, they maintain.

"The Government and the industry have taken several measures to ensure that there are no incidences of bird-flu,'' said Mr A.R Subba Rao, executive Vice-President, Godrej Agrovet Ltd.

He believes that rumours of an outbreak may have emanated from diseases that affected the livestock, but ruled out bird-flu. The Government is `closely monitoring' the situation for any outbreak of diseases, he said.

In a recent meeting the Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, urged the poultry industry to ensure better surveillance. "The industry has been asked to make sure that no incidence go unnoticed and that birds if infected are put through isolation," Mr Rao said.

The Government is also monitoring migratory birds and checking for unnatural deaths if any. It has also put in place phytosanitary measures in the case of imports.

According to Mr Rao, the Indian poultry industry is quite comparable to the developed countries. "The poultry farmers are quite aware of the situation as there was an outbreak of bird-flu earlier. The poultry industry in India is far ahead of its counterpart in the South East Asian region in terms of farming methods and knowledge,'' he said.

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