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| Paul White at the workshop in Ranchi on
Thursday. Picture by Hardeep Singh |
The lethal avian influenza virus H5N1 may not be
responsible for crow deaths in Jharkhand, a team from the Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations said on Thursday.
The observation is in direct contradiction of lab
reports from Indian Veterinary Research Institute’s (IVRI) Bareilly centre,
which after testing dead crow samples last December issued an H5N1 alert.
Paul White, the officer-in-charge of the FAO team
currently touring Jharkhand, insisted that if the virus were indeed H5N1, it
would have spread to other animals and also human beings. His claim is contrary
to a theory of possible mutation that can restrict a viral strain to a
particular species.
“It is hard to digest that H5N1 is responsible for
crow deaths (more than 4,000 scavengers have died across Jharkhand in the past
three months). The birds died of attack on their brains, which can be because of
some disease in this particular species of scavenger, old age or toxic
contaminants. We are studying it all,” White, who is in the state for the third
time in quick succession, said. He added special teams were spending time in
Jharkhand to understand the local ecology in a better way.
The UN organisation on Thursday kicked off a two-day
technical workshop for veterinary professionals and experts from four
neighbouring states in eastern India — Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar and
Chhattisgarh. The aim is to train them on ways to identify influenza threats and
deal with them.
Director of animal husbandry department A.G.
Bandopadhyay said 35 doctors from Jharkhand, five from Chhattisgarh and 10 from
Bihar were attending the event. “Representatives from Odisha could not join us
today because of a flu outbreak there,” he added.
The training also assumes importance for Jharkhand as
the state is soon expected to boast a state-of-the-art diagnostic laboratory for
animals.
“A BSL (biosafety level) 2 lab is coming up in Kanke,
which will be on a par with international facilities. Construction is over and
we are in the process of installing high-end equipment,” Shailendra Tiwari, a
scientist in the animal husbandry department, said. http://telegraphindia.com/1120120/jsp/jharkhand/story_15028486.jsp | 
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