Bird flu outbreak in Valley; don’t panic, says expert
Manish Gautam
KATHMANDU, NOV 30 -
Over 300 chickens and ducks were slaughtered in Madhyapur Thimi Municipality in Bhaktapur district on Tuesday following a Bird flu (H5N1 virus) outbreak at a small-scale poultry farm.
An team of around 20 experts that was sent from the Department of Livestock Services at 8:00 am killed 76 chickens and 232 ducks and destroyed 14 eggs and around 2 kg of poultry feed. The Veterinary Epidemiology Centre in Tripureshwor confirmed the outbreak of the avian flu at the poultry farm owned by Chandra Bahadur Tamang. It also said the outbreak is the first one in the valley.
Tamang had filed a complaint at the office of the livestock services after 90 chickens on his farm died on November 9 and 10. A sample of the dead chicken was then sent for tests to the Veterinary Laboratory Agency, Weybridge, United Kingdom. The test results on Friday confirmed that the chickens died of bird flu. A letter was sent to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives on Sunday and late on Monday the Cabinet decided to spring into action to stop the spread of the flu, Dr Narayan Prasad Ghimire, the coordinator of the experts’ team and a senior veterinary doctor, said.
Meanwhile, a team led by Dr Bal Krishna Subedi, the Spokesperson at the Ministry of Health and Population, which inspected the outbreak area found no symptoms of the flu in humans. “People outside the sealed areas need not worry and can eat chicken that is well cooked,” Dr Subedi said.
The owners of the fowl that were killed got a total amount of Rs 39,862 as compensation from the government. The outbreak area will not be allowed to farm chickens and ducks for 42 days. The country first witnessed the flu outbreak in 2008 in Jhapa. Major outbreaks after that were reported in Pokhara, Nawalparasi and Banke.
Posted on: 2011-11-30 09:13
Over 300 chickens and ducks were slaughtered in Madhyapur Thimi Municipality in Bhaktapur district on Tuesday following a Bird flu (H5N1 virus) outbreak at a small-scale poultry farm.
An team of around 20 experts that was sent from the Department of Livestock Services at 8:00 am killed 76 chickens and 232 ducks and destroyed 14 eggs and around 2 kg of poultry feed. The Veterinary Epidemiology Centre in Tripureshwor confirmed the outbreak of the avian flu at the poultry farm owned by Chandra Bahadur Tamang. It also said the outbreak is the first one in the valley.
Tamang had filed a complaint at the office of the livestock services after 90 chickens on his farm died on November 9 and 10. A sample of the dead chicken was then sent for tests to the Veterinary Laboratory Agency, Weybridge, United Kingdom. The test results on Friday confirmed that the chickens died of bird flu. A letter was sent to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives on Sunday and late on Monday the Cabinet decided to spring into action to stop the spread of the flu, Dr Narayan Prasad Ghimire, the coordinator of the experts’ team and a senior veterinary doctor, said.
Meanwhile, a team led by Dr Bal Krishna Subedi, the Spokesperson at the Ministry of Health and Population, which inspected the outbreak area found no symptoms of the flu in humans. “People outside the sealed areas need not worry and can eat chicken that is well cooked,” Dr Subedi said.
The owners of the fowl that were killed got a total amount of Rs 39,862 as compensation from the government. The outbreak area will not be allowed to farm chickens and ducks for 42 days. The country first witnessed the flu outbreak in 2008 in Jhapa. Major outbreaks after that were reported in Pokhara, Nawalparasi and Banke.
Posted on: 2011-11-30 09:13
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