Assam focusses on reducing bird flu risk in humans

Guwahati, Dec 19: Although culling operations are over in various parts of the state, Assam is now concentrating on reducing the risk of Bird Flu infection in the humans as cases of its relapse has been reported.Official sources today informed that such cases had been reported from Barpeta district where culling operation was officially over.

Sources said so far, 265 people had fallen ill, adding they displaying flu-like symptoms with complaints of upper respiratory infection.

Although culling operations had been ended in the affected areas under nine districts of Assam, some traders were selling poultry products to the unaffected areas, which had become a cause of concern for the authorities, according to sources.

The veterinary officials informed that culling operations could not be completed satisfactorily in the Baska districts of lower Assam due to local religious sentiments.

Meanwhile, addressing the media here, the Prevention of Ethical Treatment to Animals(PETA) officials today blamed the government officials for the outbreak of the avian flu, saying inefficient monitoring and farm filth had contributed to the growth of the dreaded disease.

So far, districts of Nalbari, Chirrang, Baska, Barpeta, Kamrup, Kamruo(Metro), Bongaigaon and Dibrugarh had been affected, while cases of Bird Flu had been reported in Guwahati too, sources said adding the disease had hit retaurant and tourism business hard.

''This is the time for good business as people use to go out and party. But everything has gone down the drain. There is decline in the footfall of domestic tourist by at least 60 per cent. With chicken out of the menu, the restaurants are also incurring heavy losses'' said Pankaj Sinha of the Travel People, a chain of restaurant in the region.

The poultry farmers are equally at loss. ''The poultry industry has been most adversely affected. We have lost Rs 2.21 crore so far,'' All Assam Poultry Farmers Association General Secretary R K Sharma said here.

The Association demanded interest subsidy in line with the Maharashtra model, where 100 per cent loan subsidy was provided by clubbing the central and state subsidies.

There were currently 15,500 poultry farmers registered with the association, with 5.5 people directly involved and twice as many indirectly related, Mr Sharma added.

Underlining that poultry business in the state was exclusively small entrepreneur-based, Mr Sharma said, ''The compensation has been announced to be hiked. Even that is not enough to meet our losses. Moreover, the poultry farmers are yet to receive the revised rates.'' He also advocated such measures like confined poultry farming during winters for backyard farmers, as done in countries like Laos, Nigeria and Iraq.

''The backyard poultry got the virus from migratory birds. This had been the case in the state this time,'' Mr Sharma said.

The hatcheries were incurring a daily loss of Rs 25 lakh, he said adding it was not possible to buy farm feeds as the item was clubbed under poultry products, whose sale and purchase had been banned.

''The scarcity of farm feeds even in the unaffected areas has led to such a situation indicating that all birds would die of starvation soon,'' Dr Koch said.

Dr Koch estimated that the demand for chicken and ducks would have gone up two to three times during the season, adding the outbreak of bird flu had severely hit business.