Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:52pm EST
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Nepal steps up culling in first bird flu outbreak
By Gopal Sharma
KATHMANDU, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Dozens of veterinary workers in protective suits descended on a town in east Nepal on Saturday to intensify culling of poultry to prevent the spread of bird flu after the H5N1 virus was first detected in the Himalayan nation.
"Teams with safety masks, head covers, body gowns, shoes, gloves and goggles have already been sent and they will intensify culling today or tomorrow," said Prabhakar Pathak, chief of the department of livestock services in Kathmandu on Saturday.
Bird flu was detected in chickens and ducks in the densely populated town of Kakarvitta, 275 km (172 miles), southeast of capital Kathmandu, authorities said on Friday, piling on problems for the Maoist-led government in the impoverished country.
The government, formed after the former Maoist guerrillas won the election in April last year, is already struggling with an acute shortage of electricity in the midst of a harsh winter, prompting several anti-government protests.
About 13,000 poultry would be culled in five days to control the virus within a 3 km radius of the town, and the government would pay up to $5 for each chicken or duck that is culled, Pathak said.
Flu symptoms had not been seen among people in the affected area yet, authorities have said.
"The outbreak is limited to one place and we have banned the movement of any poultry and products from there," Pathak said.
According to the World Health Organization, the H5N1 bird flu has infected more than 390 people in 15 countries and killed at least 247 of them since the virus resurfaced in Asia in 2003.
The epicentre of Nepal's outbreak is close to India's West Bengal state which has been fighting to contain intermittent outbreaks of the virus in poultry since last year.
India has culled millions of chickens and ducks to contain the virus since the first outbreak in 2006, but has reported no human infections. (Editing by Rina Chandran and Valerie Lee) (For the latest Reuters news on Nepal see: in.reuters.com, for blogs
KATHMANDU, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Dozens of veterinary workers in protective suits descended on a town in east Nepal on Saturday to intensify culling of poultry to prevent the spread of bird flu after the H5N1 virus was first detected in the Himalayan nation.
"Teams with safety masks, head covers, body gowns, shoes, gloves and goggles have already been sent and they will intensify culling today or tomorrow," said Prabhakar Pathak, chief of the department of livestock services in Kathmandu on Saturday.
Bird flu was detected in chickens and ducks in the densely populated town of Kakarvitta, 275 km (172 miles), southeast of capital Kathmandu, authorities said on Friday, piling on problems for the Maoist-led government in the impoverished country.
The government, formed after the former Maoist guerrillas won the election in April last year, is already struggling with an acute shortage of electricity in the midst of a harsh winter, prompting several anti-government protests.
About 13,000 poultry would be culled in five days to control the virus within a 3 km radius of the town, and the government would pay up to $5 for each chicken or duck that is culled, Pathak said.
Flu symptoms had not been seen among people in the affected area yet, authorities have said.
"The outbreak is limited to one place and we have banned the movement of any poultry and products from there," Pathak said.
According to the World Health Organization, the H5N1 bird flu has infected more than 390 people in 15 countries and killed at least 247 of them since the virus resurfaced in Asia in 2003.
The epicentre of Nepal's outbreak is close to India's West Bengal state which has been fighting to contain intermittent outbreaks of the virus in poultry since last year.
India has culled millions of chickens and ducks to contain the virus since the first outbreak in 2006, but has reported no human infections. (Editing by Rina Chandran and Valerie Lee) (For the latest Reuters news on Nepal see: in.reuters.com, for blogs
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment