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Bird flu: corporates, govt brood trouble
The recent outbreak of bird flu has brought to the fore certain issues which need consideration. The first and foremost is that the dangerous virus H5N1, which is responsible for the outbreak, is quite an exotic one. It did not exist in the country before. This leads to the question: where did it originate?

It is laudable that the government has decided to set up an expert panel to probe into the causes of the recent outbreak. No doubt that this is the first prevalence of H5N1 virus. But there are reports of circulation of the low pathogenic H7N1 virus in the country in January 2003. This virus was detected in poultry in Barwala and Gurgaon areas in Haryana.

There are reports of the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal then confirming its presence. But the government at that time turned a Nelson’s eye and described this low pathogenic virus as a “non-pathogenic” one. No serious efforts were undertaken at that time to check the spread of this virus as is being done today.

Scientists say that viruses have the ability to mutate and assume more dangerous forms. If this is so then there is a possibility of the low-pathogenic H7N1 mutating and assuming dangerous forms.

The outbreak of avian flu in India was noticed first in 18 corporate and large proprietary poultry firms in Navapur in Maharashtra and adjoining areas rearing exotic crossbred chicken. It was not noticed in backyard poultry or household poultry or in indigenous birds. This suggests backyard poultry or household poultry is better and hygienically managed than the corporate or large proprietary poultry firms. Plus, the indigenous birds are not easily infected by exotic viruses.

The theory that migratory bird swooped in with the virus is bunkum as there is no sanctuary for wild and migratory birds near the epicentre of the recent outbreak.

However, with a view to containing the spread of this dangerous virus, the government has launched culling operation of all birds (crossbred and indigenous) that fall within a radius of 3 km of the infected zone. It has also planned to cull all birds that fall within the periphery- a radius of 10 km termed as “surveillance zone”.

The government has, no doubt, decided to compensate the owners of the culled birds. But compensation is not enough to offset the total loss. Poor farmers rearing poultry in their backyards will suffer on account of the mismanagement of large business farms in the region. Intensive poultry farming done by these large farms and the lack of hygiene in their premises provide an environment that is ripe for any pathogen to thrive. This raises questions about the impact of such large farms on the environment. Is backyard poultry better in this respect?

There are also reports of the use of unlabeled vaccines by some large farms to contain New Castle disease. No doubt vaccination should done as a precautionary measure. But vaccines should be authentic and prescribed by competent veterinary doctors, otherwise the consequences may be dangerous.

The government claims it banned imports of poultry birds and meat from flu infected countries long before the present incidence. But was the ban really effective? We do not have any effective sanitary, phytosanitary (SPS) or quarantine checks of imported products at the points of entry. The result is the presence of several exotic pests, diseases and virus in the country.

The country’s largest farmers’ organisation, Bharat Krishak Samaj, and the Centre for Trade in Agriculture and Agro-based Industry had time and again demanded strict implementation of quarantine and SPS norms on import, but this has fallen on deaf ears. Hope the government wakes up to reality.