Flu spreads in Assam, alert in Meghalaya

BY MANOJ ANAND

Guwahati

Dec. 13: With avian flu spreading to new areas in Assam and the neighbouring state of Meghalaya, Union animal husbandry and veterinary secretary N. Gokul Ram, who was here to take stock of the situation, has ruled out the fears of the deadly virus spreading to humans.

Stressing the need of expediting the culling drive here on Saturday, Mr Ram told reporters: "We have not come across any such cases of avian influenza spreading to humans."

Contrary to what regional director (Northeast) of the Central health and family welfare department Parthajyoti Gogoi claimed, that about 150 people were treated for fever and upper respiratory tract infections in bird flu-hit areas, Mr Ram asserted: "We are keeping a close watch over development as over 90 teams of experts are keeping a close watch on the situation in flu-hit areas."

He said that they have identified two new districts in Assam — Sibsagar and North Lakhimpur — where unnatural death of birds have been reported on Saturday. Though the virus is spreading across the state, people dealing with poultry are still reluctant to cooperate. Twenty-four hours after the Guwahati administration banned the sale of poultry products following fresh outbreak of bird flu, roadside vendors were seen selling eggs and chicken in Guwahati on Saturday.

The vendors said: "What should we do? We are still getting supplies. No one has told us anything." The ban on sale of poultry products obviously hasn’t worked on ground in the state.

The Central government team, which is here to monitor the situation, also admitted this and said: "We have conveyed our area of concern to the chief secretary of the Assam government on Friday."

The Central government team has also asked the Meghalaya government to enhance the vigilance in the bordering areas as virus was spreading to poultry across the state. Mr Ram said that they have set the target of completing the culling operations by December 16 in the state.