A tacit warning from the Indian Veterinary Research
Institute (IVRI) against the virulent H5N1 virus infecting humans after crows
has prompted the East Singhbhum district health department to requisition throat
swab kits from Delhi.
District surveillance officer Swarn Singh said he had
rushed a letter to the state surveillance unit in Ranchi, seeking the test kits
as soon as possible because civic workers burying crow carcasses might be at
risk.
Two teams from IVRI’s Bareilly and Bhopal wings, which
had collected samples of dead scavengers from Jamshedpur last month, had in
their reports to the state animal husbandry department as well as East Singhbhum
district surveillance office hinted at possible human affliction.
“The experts had said that handlers (those entrusted
with the task of burying the infected and dead birds) run the maximum risk of
contracting the H5N1 virus. They suggested that we be prepared for an
emergency,” Singh told The Telegraph.
The H5N1 is among 15 types of avian influenza or bird
flu viruses. The only way humans can contract the virus is through close contact
with infected birds. The scavengers that have survived the scourge will also
continue to secrete massive quantities of the virus in their faeces. People who
touch the birds or inadvertently come in contact with faecal particles are at
risk. The H5N1 is normally not transmitted from person to person. However, the
illness caused by this virus in humans is severe and early data suggests a
mortality rate as high as 60 per cent.
Singh maintained that he had written to the state
surveillance wing on Saturday and sought at least 100 units of throat swab kits
from Delhi. “We have been told that Ranchi would procure 200 units of the avian
influenza kits and 100 will be sent to East Singhbhum, which has witnessed
maximum number of crow deaths in the state. We are waiting for the kit,” he
said.
“Both the IVRI teams and experts from National
Institute of Virology (Pune) and Union animal husbandry department have not been
able to confirm H5N1 virus in any other bird species or human beings. But we do
not want to take chances,” he added.
So far, more than 2,000 crows have died in Jamshedpur
alone. A few thousand have also been fatally affected in Hazaribagh, Ranchi and
Dhanbad districts over the past three months.
A high-level joint team from the United Nations and
Centre visited Jharkhand last week to probe whether and why the phenomenon was
limited to scavengers. The state has issued a blanket alert to all zoos and
parks in its 24 districts. http://telegraphindia.com/1111222/jsp/jharkhand/story_14910602.jsp | 
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