Revamp bird flu detection systems, Centre tells states

NEW DELHI: With Myanmar and Bangladesh reporting bird flu cases, the Centre has asked border states to revamp their detection systems and be extra vigilant in identifying the slightest signs of the disease. “We have already asked the border states to remain extra vigilant and revamp their disease outbreak detection systems,” animal husbandry commissioner SK Bandopadhyaya told reporters here on Monday.

Asserting that the states have learnt from the past experience of bird flu outbreak, he said department officials in the border states have already stepped up vigilance and were looking for signs of the disease.

The government had issued an alert on Thursday to the states vulnerable to the disease, asking them to be “cautious and keep a vigil on the poultry sector”. States bordering Myanmar, Pakistan and Bangladesh have been put on alert, officials said.

Besides checking the local poultry markets, Mr Bandopadhyaya said state officials have been asked to keep a close watch on trade from across the borders and particularly to a sudden fall in the demand in the neighbouring countries.

“There might be attempts to smuggle the poultry into the country and we have to keep our guard,” the official said, adding “Formal trade is already being monitored. It is the informal trade that we have to guard against,” he said. “Media reports from Bangladesh suggest that at least three poultry farms have started culling operations but we are yet to get an official word on it,” Mr Bandopadhyaya said.

The government told Parliament recently that an outbreak of avian influenza has already been reported in China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia and the UK.