The Hindu

Bangalore, Jan 23: With the outbreak of avian influenza (bird flu) in West Bengal, Karnataka has stepped up its vigil against the dreaded infection. But there has not been a single case of bird flu reported in the State so far.

Nevertheless, the Department of Animal Husbandry is monitoring the situation on a day-to-day basis. Samples of avian blood from poultry farms and hatcheries are collected every day from 40 locations in the State and sent for analysis to the Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals in Herbal.

For final confirmation, the test reports and the samples are sent to the High Security Diagnostic Laboratory (HSDL) in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. All reports have been negative so far (till January 22)

Director of the Department of Animal Husbandry N Rajagopal told The Hindu that an intensive and extensive surveillance had been launched in the State in places of high poultry density — around major cities such as Bangalore, Mangalore, Hubli-Dharwad, Gulburga, Mysore and Belgaum.

Dr Rajagopal said that a watch was being kept on bird sanctuaries and destinations like Kokkarebellur, Rangangathittu (Mandya district), Haladi (Kundapur taluk), Kadalakere in Moodbidri (Dakshina Kannada) and Bellandur (Varthur hobli in Anekal taluk). A Core Committee to monitor the situation has been constituted under the chairmanship of the Secretary of Animal Husbandry Department D V Prasad.

The Government is planning a massive awareness campaign on three levels. The first level was directed at consumers, the second at chicken vendors and the third at hatcheries and farms.

A door-to-door awareness for chicken breeders in the rural areas has been planned as country chickens are the most susceptible to avian flu.

World Poultry Science Association vice-president G Deve Gowda, who had been on a mission to spread awareness in Kolkata on bird flu, returned to the city on Tuesday. “Even in West Bengal, the organised chicken farms are safe. It is only country chicken breeders who have reported bird deaths,” he said.

On the recommendation of the World Health Organisation that every bird in a 10-km radius had to be culled to extinguish the possibility of spread, Mr. Gowda said the chicken industry in India was a Rs 20,000-crore export business.
India is the largest producer of eggs in the world with the output being 45,000 million eggs a year. It produces 2,000 million broiler chickens a year.
Industry cautious

Venkateshwara Hatcheries general manager Manjesh Kumar Jadhav told The Hindu that the industry had been in constant touch with the Government.

They had sensitised their workers on various bio-security measures.