ne February 20, 2006Poultry experts have expressed serious concerns over the arbitrary manner in which the government machinery has been handling the so-called outbreak of bird flu in Maharashtra.Anuradha Desai, chairperson of National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC) and head of Venkateshwara Hatcheries, said hasty conclusions that the avian flu has spread in Nandurbar and culling nearly a million chickens would lead to avoidable implications and financial damage to the poultry industry."The head of the government's own laboratory in Bhopal has gone on record saying it is not confirmed that the virus found in the samples of the affected chickens is bird flu, yet the state government is going head-on with containing it."Isolating and killing affected birds and then disposing them in a scientific manner is adequate, but the idea of importing live vaccines sounds alarm bells," she added, pointing out that prescribing Tamiflu could prove reckless. "There are instances in countries like Japan where people died after consuming Tamiflu, which was administered without reason," she stressed.Desai expressed suspicion that the whole hype may be a ploy of the MNC vaccine and drug makers who have large stocks of anti-bird flu doses and want to make a quick profit. "A few years ago, when bird flu occurred in Holland, the birds were simply isolated and killed. A major bird flu vaccine company is headquartered in that country, yet the Dutch government did not buy vaccines from it," she added.Reacting to media reports saying union minister for agriculture Sharad Pawar has promised that another batch of samples would be tested for bird flu, she said: "It is absolutely necessary to conduct such tests, but there is no formal communication to us about this repeat tests."NECC has launched a countrywide communication campaign to set peoples' worries to rest, she said. The communication appeals to the Indian consumers saying "There is no bird flu in India. There is no truth in the reports. People can continue to consume eggs and chicken as usual." The Indian practice of cooking chicken thoroughly before it is consumed makes any chicken safe. The communication states that at 70 degrees C (cooking temperature) no virus can remain active."Poultry today is a huge industry that provides employment to millions of people and earns foreign exchange for the country. Thousands of farmers and their families will be subjected to great hardship if the poultry produce like eggs and chicken is not picked by the market," Desai explained.Poultry farm owners in areas like Panvel and Khopoli near Mumbai, from where the city's supply comes, were confident about their stocks and ruled out the possibility of an outbreak in their respective farms."As a precautionary step, we have our doctors and experienced people visiting our all farms all over Maharashtra. No case of death or bird flu in any bird in our farms has been registered so far," said R M Veeraswamy, senior manager marketing of Saguna Poultry Farm. He added: "The bird flu virus cannot come to India. The disease detected is not the bird flu, it is Ranikhet and Marek's."Owners of commercial poultry farms in Panvel feel that they are well equipped to combat the disease. "We are equipped to tackle any such eventuality. Commercial farms in Panvel have not seen any death from bird flu till now. We are getting regular tests done," said P G Pedgaonkar, deputy general manager of Venkateshwar Hatchery at Panvel.Farms in Khopoli also tell the same story. Manager of the Zorabian Hatchery in Khopoli said: "There is nothing such as bird flu in any of the here. Presently, we are ensuring bio-security of the chicks as a matter of routine." High official sources in the animal husbandary department of Maharashtra said: "We want the farm owners to report to the goverment in case there is any such disease. It will help us control the spread of the disease and take appropriate precautionary steps. Hiding is not the answer."They added: "May be these farm owners are not aware of the fact what the state government machinery is doing. We are on high alert and our officers are visiting the farms. The Bhopal High Security Lab, which is one of the best in west Asia, declared the presense of bird flu in the sample taken from the Navapur area in Nandurbar and there is no point on questioning the authority of the lab."
