Nepal-#Bird Flu outbreak: Stigmatised, say locals; 25 private schools shut
Officials said no one in the area has developed symptoms of bird flu, while those who have been complaining of the symptoms have already been given ‘symptomatic treatment’..
Bird Flu outbreak: Stigmatised, say locals; 25 private schools shut
KATHMANDU, DEC 02 -
People living in and around the bird flu outbreak site in Madhyapur Thimi Municipality in Bhaktapur district on Thursday said they are being stigmatised and that their children have been harassed in schools.
Twenty-five private schools at Lokanthali and Gatthaghar have been closed for three days—Friday to Monday—due to the outbreak, affecting hundreds of students.
“Whenever I go to Koteshwor, people who know me avoid me,” said a seemingly frustrated Deepesh Ghising.
The locals there lashed out at government officials and the media.
Government officials who visited the site to make people aware of the precautionary measures could not communicate properly with the irate locals.
“The officials came and slaughtered the fowls. And now people
have started avoiding our children too,” an irate resident said, adding that her daughter was sent back from school.
“We have already lost our source of livelihood to the flu. And our children, for whom we have been doing all this, are being stigmatised,” the local woman added.
District secretary of Private and Boarding Schools Organisation (PABSON), Bhaktapur, Shree Krishna KC said many students from the outbreak site were facing problems in school as others tried to avoid them—forcing school authorities to close down 25 schools lying in the periphery of the site. KC said PABSON came up with the decision to shut the schools after the government did not take proper precautionary measures. “Also, parents pressured us to shut the schools to protect the children,” KC said.
Meanwhile, people at the outbreak site said they were not satisfied with the compensation they got for their fowls from the government. The owners of the birds that were slughtered got a total amount of Rs 39,862 as compensation. Officials had killed 308 chickens and ducks and destroyed 14 eggs and around 2 kg of poultry feed. Officials said no one in the area has developed symptoms of bird flu, while those who have been complaining of the symptoms have already been given ‘symptomatic treatment’.
“The symptoms are different in each case, while the flu threat is minimal in the area. Chemicals have been spread in every nook and corner of the shanties,” Kumar Dahal, the Public Health Inspector and an official of the Avian Influenza Control Project (AICP) said. He added that people are prone to the virus for a week after the outbreak. “However, almost 20 days have passed now and we don’t have much to fear,” Dahal said.
Posted on: 2011-12-02 07:21
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