Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is now recognized as a major global public health problem which has been aggravated by the irrational use of antimicrobial agents in human and animal health as well as the
People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Mumbai, today linked bird flu in Tripura to unhygienic condition of chicken and egg farms. This comes at a time when the State Government has blamed Bangladesh for the spread of the H5N1 virus through unchecked poultry movement from across the border. PETA officials here said besides Tripura, they had issued general warning to every State in India early this year about filthy condition in poultry farms after conducting a random survey and cautioned that it could lead to spread of the flu virus.
Indian States bordering Bangladesh have become vulnerable to bird flu with the country continuing to be a breeding ground for the disease, officials here said on Monday. "Forty-seven of the 64 districts in Bangladesh are hit by bird flu. With the authorities failing to control the disease and no efforts at checking smuggling of poultry and poultry products, bordering Indian States are becoming vulnerable to avian influenza,' said Ashish Roy Burman, Director of Tripura's Animal Resource Development (ARD) Department.
The country would be deprived of its poultry stock if wheat, the basic ingredient of poultry feed, would remain out of their reach due to ban on its purchase from farm and open market. This was stated by the Chairman Pakistan Industrial Traders Associations Front (PIAF), Mian Abuzar Shad after holding a meeting with a delegation of poultry industry on Monday.
The Tripura Government has asked the External Affairs Ministry to take up the issue of unchecked poultry movement from Bangladesh to bordering villages of Tripura, where incidents of bird flu were increasing. State Animal Resource Development Minister Aghor Debbarma here today said there were reports of poultry movement from across the border and since most of the area in Bangladesh had already been affected by the H5N1 virus, it increased the risk of flu spread.
The Darjeeling district administration has decided to start culling in the Bijanbari-Pulbazar area, where the outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed, from Sunday. District magistrate Rajesh Pandey today held a meeting with other officials to work out the logistics of the operations.
While Sindh has become a key battleground for the eradication of polio from the country, its newly inducted Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed on Thursday declared that an increase in polio cases was mainly due to the use of polluted water. The minister asked the district governments to ensure supply of clean drinking water to their respective populations.
To ensure revival of poultry sector and to meet the requirements of poultry meat and eggs, the Pakistan Poultry Association has urged the government to immediately undertake policy reforms in poultry sector. The PPA has warned that failure would cause a huge loss to the sector. Chairperson of PPA, Abdul Basit, while giving recommendations for budget 2008, said that the poultry industry bore huge loss of Rs 30.000 billion to Rs 35.000 billion during the 2006-07 due to bird flu rumours.
Culling of chicken which began in two blocks of Siliguri and one block of Kurseong in birdflu-affected Darjeeling district will continue for another two days, Darjeeling district magistrate Rajesh Pandey said. A total of 20,298 birds were culled in the blocks since May 10, he said. Few thousands were yet to be killed due to non-cooperation in a few villages, he said. It was decided at an emergency meeting on Wednesday that the mopping drive which began on Wednesday would also continue, officials said.
Officials prepare for the burial of birds. (Kundan Yolmo) Residents of Sukna army cantonment and visitors to Madhuban Park and Umrao Singh Lake situated inside the military area will no longer be able to have a glimpse of a major attraction thanks to the outbreak of bird flu. Over 200 ducks, swan and geese, which inhabited these recreational sites, have been culled as the deadly disease was detected just 500m from the cantonment.
