Avian flu situation ‘getting out of hand’

KATHMANDU, JUL 31 -
As the Capital on Tuesday witnessed the 15th bird flu outbreak in the last two weeks, health experts warned that the spread of the H5N1 virus has gone out of control and called for an immediate and more coordinated intervention from the government. While they say a government decision is being delayed due to strong lobbying from people in the poultry sector, the Nepal Chicken Sellers Business Association refuted such a claim.

Since the first outbreak in a poultry farm in Matatirtha and Chabahil on July 16, the virus has claimed over 25,000 chickens in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur districts.  Animal health authorities on Tuesday confirmed the flu in two more poultry farms in Bhaktapur. Tests on chicken samples were conducted by the Central Veterinary Laboratory at Tripureshwor in Kathmandu.

According to the experts, farmers selling the potentially infected chickens in the market in the absence of effective monitoring has worsened the situation. “There is total impunity; the authorities know who is at fault, but still they have failed to take immediate action,” said Dr Shital Kaji Shrestha, General Secretary of the Nepal Veterinary Association.

While some farmers have dumped dead birds openly in public places, others have buried them secretly without following the standard procedures. Such practices have increased the chances of the epidemic spreading, experts said. The police on Monday seized 426 chickens that were being transported to Birgunj for sale from a flu-affected farm in Bhaktapur.

Government officials concede that the existing measures fall way too short of what is required to combat the ‘epidemic’ and that this fact has led to the situation going out of hand.

“The trend in the past two weeks shows that the epidemic is showing no signs of receding,” Dr Bol Raj Acharya, Chief of the District Veterinary Office, Kathman-du, said. “We have realised that it needs bigger intervention, which means expanding the current volume of human resource, which is too small to control this epidemic, and a complete ban and quarantine of poultry products nationwide.”

The Kathmandu District Administration Office was supposed to take a decision on Tuesday on banning export and import of chickens in the Valley. However, according to sources, the DAO failed to even discuss the issue following ‘pressure’ from poultry traders. The sources added that a Cabinet decision will be taken soon.

“There is a strong lobby from the poultry sector and it is very unlikely that the government could take a decision without taking them into confidence,” the sources said.

President of the Nepal Chicken Sellers Business Association, Junga Bahadur BC, however said, “We are in favour of public health and have already asked our members to comply with any decision taken by the government.” In the past, the government has taken measures like declaring emergency in certain outbreak areas, closing down of schools and launching culling operations.

According to the Animal Health Directorate, the country has witnessed 105 bird flu outbreaks in the past five years. Last year, 35 outbreaks were reported, while this year, already 80 bird flu cases have been reported with a majority of them inside Kathmandu Valley.

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