OIE Report-Highly pathogenic avian influenza,

Highly pathogenic avian influenza, Nepal

Information received on 02/12/2011 from Dr Ram Krishna Khatiwada, Programme Director , Directorate of Animal Health , Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kathmandu, Nepal

Summary

Report type	Immediate notification
Start date	10/11/2011
Date of first confirmation of the event	14/11/2011
Report date	02/12/2011
Date submitted to OIE	02/12/2011
Reason for notification	Reoccurrence of a listed disease
Date of previous occurrence	30/10/2010
Manifestation of disease	Clinical disease
Causal agent	Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus
Serotype	H5N1
Nature of diagnosis	Clinical, Laboratory (basic), Laboratory (advanced), Necropsy
This event pertains to	the whole country

New outbreaks

Outbreak 1	Manahara Phat, Madhyapur Thimi Municipality - 16, Bhaktapur, BAGMATI
Date of start of the outbreak	10/11/2011
Outbreak status	Continuing (or date resolved not provided)
Epidemiological unit	Village
Affected animals	Species Susceptible Cases Deaths Destroyed Slaughtered Birds 396 88 88 308 0
Affected Population	Backyard chicken and duck population
Summary of outbreaks	Total outbreaks: 1
Outbreak statistics	Species Apparent morbidity rate Apparent mortality rate Apparent case fatality rate Proportion susceptible animals lost* Birds 22.22% 22.22% 100.00% 100.00% * Removed from the susceptible population through death, destruction and/or slaughter

Epidemiology

Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection	Unknown or inconclusive
Epidemiological comments	Stamping out activity was completed on 29 November 2011 and cleaning and disinfection of the infected premises were completed on 30 November 2011. Post-operative surveillance activities are ongoing and no further cases in other areas have been detected so far.

Control measures

Measures applied	Stamping out Quarantine Movement control inside the country Screening Disinfection of infected premises/establishment(s) Dipping / Spraying Vaccination prohibited No treatment of affected animals
Measures to be applied	No other measures

Diagnostic test results

Laboratory name and type	Central Veterinary Laboratory (CVL) (National laboratory)
Tests and results	Species Test Test date Result Birds polymerase chain reaction (PCR) 14/11/2011 Positive Birds rapid tests 14/11/2011 Positive
Laboratory name and type	Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), Weybridge, United Kingdom (OIE’s Reference Laboratory)
Tests and results	Species Test Test date Result Birds reverse transcription - polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) 23/11/2011 Positive

Future Reporting http://web.oie.int/wahis/public.php?page=single_report&pop=1&reportid=11347

Nepal-5-member team to observe bird flu alert

Service response team formed
KATHMANDU, DEC 02 -

A team of doctors from the Department of Health‚ Directorate of Animal Health‚ Division of Avian Influenza and Animal Rapid destroying the ducks and chickens on the suspicion of Bird Flu at Manahara in Madhyapur Thimi-16‚ Bhaktapur on Tuesday‚ November 29‚ 2011. The flu was confirmed after the sample of the chicks was sent to London‚ the UK‚ for the lab test. Following the confirmation‚ around 1300 chicken and ducks were destroyed in the district today as per the government's decision.

The Epidemiology and Disease Control Division has formed a five-member Service Response Team to observe high alert from bird flu.
The Division has formed the team including experts on Thursday for observing high alert as bird flu was detected in the Kathmandu Valley.
Dr. Rabi Kiran Kafle and Dr. Pramod Khanal of World Health Organization (WHO), Public Health Inspector of the Division, Kumar Prasad Dahal and Public Health Inspector of the National Health Education Information and Communication Centre Ran Bahadur Gharti are in the team.
According to Public Health Inspector of the team Kumar Prasad Dahal, isolation ward and lab are in standby for treatment in the centre for any person if found suffering from fever, neck pain and respiratory problem.
Dahal informed that no infection of the disease has been detected on people so far.
Posted on: 2011-12-02 04:32

http://www.ekantipur.com/2011/12/02/capital/service-response-team-formed/344841.html

http://thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=5-member+team+to+observe+bird+flu+alert&NewsID=311330

Nepal-#Bird Flu outbreak: Stigmatised, say locals; 25 private schools shut

Officials said no one in the area has developed symptoms of bird flu, while those who have been complaining of the symptoms have already been given ‘symptomatic treatment’..

Bird Flu outbreak: Stigmatised, say locals; 25 private schools shut

KATHMANDU, DEC 02 -

People living in and around the bird flu outbreak site in Madhyapur Thimi Municipality in Bhaktapur district on Thursday said they are being stigmatised and that their children have been harassed in schools.

Twenty-five private schools at Lokanthali and Gatthaghar have been closed for three days—Friday to Monday—due to the outbreak, affecting hundreds of students.

“Whenever I go to Koteshwor, people who know me avoid me,” said a seemingly frustrated Deepesh Ghising.

The locals there lashed out at government officials and the media.

Government officials who visited the site to make people aware of the precautionary measures could not communicate properly with the irate locals.

“The officials came and slaughtered the fowls. And now people

have started avoiding our children too,” an irate resident said, adding that her daughter was sent back from school.

“We have already lost our source of livelihood to the flu. And our children, for whom we have been doing all this, are being stigmatised,” the local woman added.

District secretary of Private and Boarding Schools Organisation (PABSON), Bhaktapur, Shree Krishna KC said many students from the outbreak site were facing problems in school as others tried to avoid them—forcing school authorities to close down 25 schools lying in the periphery of the site. KC said PABSON came up with the decision to shut the schools after the government did not take proper precautionary measures. “Also, parents pressured us to shut the schools to protect the children,” KC said.

Meanwhile, people at the outbreak site said they were not satisfied with the compensation they got for their fowls from the government. The owners of the birds that were slughtered got a total amount of Rs 39,862 as compensation. Officials had killed 308 chickens and ducks and destroyed 14 eggs and around 2 kg of poultry feed. Officials said no one in the area has developed symptoms of bird flu, while those who have been complaining of the symptoms have already been given ‘symptomatic treatment’.

“The symptoms are different in each case, while the flu threat is minimal in the area. Chemicals have been spread in every nook and corner of the shanties,” Kumar Dahal, the Public Health Inspector and an official of the Avian Influenza Control Project (AICP) said. He added that people are prone to the virus for a week after the outbreak. “However, almost 20 days have passed now and we don’t have much to fear,” Dahal said.

Posted on: 2011-12-02 07:21

http://www.ekantipur.com/2011/12/02/top-story/bird-flu-outbreak-stigmatised-say-locals-25-private-schools-shut/344797.html

Nepal-Bird flu fear shuts 22 schools in Bhaktapur

Bird flu fear shuts 22 schools in Bhaktapur

Added At: 2011-12-02 12:05 AM

RUDRA PANGENI/ISHWOR KAJI KHAIJU

Families in 40 houses around the 'bird flu zone' have already undergone check-up‚ with none testing positive. There was no need to shut schools or panic.

BHAKTAPUR: Fearing the spread of bird flu among children, 22 private schools in and around the ‘bird flu zone’ have announced the closure from Friday to Monday.
The schools were shut acting on public pressure though the public health officers of Bhaktapur and Kathmandu have put three-kilometer area around Lokanthali, where all the birds were culled and anti-virus pesticides sprayed on Tuesday, under surveillance.

Schools in Lokanthali, Kaushaltar, Gatthaghar and Balkot have been closed, as parents feared the spread of disease among the children while going to school.
Bhuvan Lal Shrestha, chairman of Private and Boarding Schools Organisation-Nepal, Bhaktapur, said the decision was forced by lack of awareness among parents and poor government response to the outbreak.
Principal of Erudite Academy of Lokanthali Diwakar Gyanwali said people knew little about bird flu and the government did not did not do enough to allay their fears, triggering panic among the parents, ‘who urged us to close the school’.

Coordinator of Public Health

Office, Bhaktapur, Shiva Bahadur KC, said, “All the birds that

were feared to have been infected, were culled and chicks, eggs and poultry farms were treated medically. So there is no chance of virus spreading to humans.”

Dr Garib Das Thakur, Director, Epidemiology and Disease Control Division.

Department of Health Services, told The Himalayan Times: “We have sent an expert team to the area and there is no need to fear an outbreak among humans.”

Secretary, Ministry of Health and Population, Dr Sudha Sharma, while talking to The Himalayan Times, urged the people not to panic and claimed that there was no need to shut the schools. Dr Sharma claimed that the ministry and its agencies were active in the

area and families in 40 houses around the ‘bird flu zone’ had

already undergone check-up with none testing positive.

On Monday, the government had declared poultry farm of Chandra Bahadur Tamang near Manohara Khola ‘a bird flu zone’ and had mobilised a Rapid Response Team in the area.

http://thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Bird+flu+fear+shuts+22+schools+in+Bhaktapur++&NewsID=311280

Nepal: Schools To Close for 4 days over #birdflu menace #H5N1

2011-12-01

BHAKTAPUR: The Private and Boarding Schools' Organisation of Nepal (PABSON) Bhaktapur Chapter is to close 25 schools under its affiliation for four days in the district citing the bird flu menace.

A meeting of the PABSON Bhaktapur decided to close the schools in the western part of the Bhaktapur district which is around 3 kilometers of the Manohara area, said Secretary Shreekrishna KC.

Some fowls at the squatters’ settlement near the Manohara River in the district were found to be infected with H5N1 virus three days back.