Govt hastely declared spread of bird flu, alleges AMPFWA

Pune, Mar 17 (UNI) The Akhil Maharashtra Poultry Farmers Welfare Association (AMPFWA) today alleged the Union Government has spread panic among people by hurriedly declaring the outbreak of avian influenza in four villages of the Jalgaon district.

The association, in a statement here, claimed that any country usually declared outbreak of bird flu when they find the presence of H5N1 in testing.

But, in the samples collected from Jalgaon, the tests were not carried out for N subtype, so it could be one of the nine subtypes that was found there.

The association alleged that when N subtype testing had not been thoroughly completed, which usually takes about seven to eight more days, the Government had hastely declared the virus as a strain of H5N1, putting the industry in deep trouble.

The release said H5 means it might be a low pathogenic avian influenza or highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), and to declare it as HPAI, the government needs to carry out intravenous pathogenic city index test and as per Office International des Epizoties (OIE) only H5N1 is pathogenic and H5N7 is notifiable.

Also, in the second follow-up report dated March eight to OIE, the Government had stated that till date no further case of avian influenza had been reported from the area or any part of the country, the release alleged.

The association has also demanded that an independent inquiry be conducted in this regard to safeguard the industry, the release added.

UNI SP SSS PG RN2120