Bird flu spreads its wings, affects nine Assam districts

Guwahati, Dec 11: With the avian influenza spreading to fresh areas, nine Assam districts are now bird flu affected and Health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday warned that it could become a major human disaster.

The affected districts were Kamrup (Rural), Kamrup (Metro), Barpeta, Nalbari, Chirang, Baksa, Dibrugarh, Goalpara and Bongaigaon, official sources said.

Sale of poultry and eggs, either cooked or raw, has been banned in Guwahati and Kamrup (Metro) district which comprises Guwahati and adjoining areas.

Culling of poultry, ducks and other birds has been continuing in the affected districts with over 1.5 lakh birds killed so far, the sources said.

"People are taking the disease very casually. Chicken and ducks are being kept away from culling without realising the seriousness of the disease," Sarma told reporters here.

"We will not be able to handle it, if the disease spreads to humans from the birds. The way the disease is spreading, it will be a greater disaster than bomb blasts or floods," Sarma said.

"The human disaster will be immense. The health department is very worried about human transmission of the disease as it is not 100 percent equipped to handle a largescale outbreak as there are no isolation facilities here," he said.

The disease, starting from Hajo revenue circle in Kamrup(Rural) district about 20 km from here on December 2 and spread to Guwahati in Kamrup (Metro) district, Nalbari, Barpeta, Chirang, Baksa, Bongaigaon and Goalpara districts in Lower Assam spreading to Dibrugarh district in Upper Assam.

Meghalaya prepares for culling

Taking in view that the bird flu is spreading to new areas in neighbouring Assam, Meghalaya banned the entry of poultry and poultry products from Assam and Bangladesh.

"The ban comes into force with immediate effect. However, the ban does not imply to the sale of poultry and poultry products produced within the state," a Veterinary Department release here said.

A senior Veterinary official told media that they were preparing to cull birds and poultry in the bordering areas with Assam as soon as the Centre asks to do so.

"Normally culling operations are done in a radius of 3 km of the place of disease outbreak. With the bird flu outbreak in Assam's Khanapara, lying along Assam-Meghalaya border, it is likely that culling would be done in the bordering areas of Meghalaya too," he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Ri Bhoi district that borders Khanapara in Assam's Kamrup (Rural) district is on a visit to the bordering areas along with a team of Veterinary officials to take stock of the situation.

The government has set up control rooms in all districts to facilitate information to the poultry farms.

Veterinary officials have been regularly adopting measures to prevent spread of the disease into the state and Deputy Commissioners of all the districts have been alerted, sources said.

Meghalaya already has in place 150 rapid response teams along with 2,170 personnel protective equipment that were constituted last year after the outbreak of avian flu in West Bengal.

hat-tip Niman