February 11, 2008
Bird flu updates: India's West Bengal compensates poultry farmers US$176 million
West Bengal's state finance minister, Asim Dasgupta announced a package of Rs 700 crore (US$176.1 million) to compensate affected poultry owners and rebuild the poultry trade after the recent outbreak of bird flu in the state.
Following a meeting with regional directors of Reserve Bank of India and Nabard (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) and representatives of banks, the state finance minister announced budgetary allocation of Rs 100 crore as well as loan compensation worth Rs 600 crore for the affected poultry owners.
Dasgupta said the banks have agreed to provide soft loans to poultry owners, mostly backyard poultry owners, at a lower interest of seven percent (four percent for those living Below Poverty Line, BPL) to enable them to start their business afresh.
"We have urged that the same circular issued by the Reserve Bank of India to banks during the outbreak of bird flu in Maharashtra should be applicable to our state. The banks have readily agreed to what we have proposed," Dasgupta said.
Existing loans would be rescheduled with the state government demanding that the federal government give a four-percent subsidy to affected poultry owners. For BPL families the banks were urged to waive interest altogether.
With 700,000 families affected by the bird flu which broke out in backyard farms, total financial losses have been estimated at Rs 500 crore (US$125.8 million).
So far 3.7 million birds have been culled in the state and the state government has provided Rs 11.75 lakh while the Federal government has provided another Rs 8.5 lakh. Apart from providing the Rs 500 each to affected families to tide over the three-month ban on chicken rearing in bird flu affected areas, the state government has promised to provide free chicks for rearing to BPL families.
India's north-eastern state culls 40,000 birds to prevent bird flu spread
Authorities in India's Assam state have culled an estimated 40,000 poultry birds to prevent the spread of bird flu from neighbouring West Bengal and have sent samples for tests to the specialised laboratory in Bhopal.
"Teams from the state veterinary and animal husbandry department have culled around 40,000 poultry in the two border districts of Dhubri and Kokrajhar. Another 80,000 more are expected to be culled by Sunday [10 February]," Veterinary Director A. K Kataki said.
As many as 26 Rapid Response Teams equipped with culling gear are on the job but the task has been made difficult because the targeted poultry are mostly backyard birds.
The authorities have already paid an estimated Rs.700,000 (US$17,616) to the affected farmers and villagers as compensation.
Veterinarians have collected samples for bird flu tests to be conducted at the High-Risk Security Diseases Laboratory at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.
The culling is being carried out in about 40 villages within a five-kilometre radius of Assam's border with West Bengal since Saturday.
Bird flu has spread to 13 of West Bengal's 19 districts since the outbreak was confirmed more than two weeks ago.
Laboratory results have confirmed that the deadly H5N1 strain is responsible for the outbreak in at least two of the districts.
The poultry business has already been hit in Assam after the outbreak of bird flu in West Bengal. Assam and other north-eastern states have already banned the import of poultry from there.
Pakistan's poultry farmers want free vaccines to rid bird flu
The Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) is seeking subsidies on imported bird flu vaccines from the government.
The Association also demanded a law to determine the distance from one poultry farm to other to protect the uninfected farm from the virus. Addressing a press conference at Karachi the Press Club (KPC) on Thursday, PPP Central Chairman Abdul Basit claimed that bird flu virus was under complete control in the country.
He pointed out that bird flu vaccine had successfully been used in poultry farms of Rawalpindi, Islamabad, and Abbotabad. He hoped that bird flu virus would soon be controlled in Karachi.
The PPP also wanted the government to provide free vaccines to farmers in Karachi to eliminate the virus from affected areas.
Basit said continued presence of bird flu and unconfirmed reports in the media had negatively impacted the industry and would make chickens more expensive. Ultimately, it would be the consumer who suffers as he would have to pay higher prices, he said.
Bird flu spreads to another Bangladesh district
Bird flu has spread to another district in Bangladesh despite efforts by authorities to contain it, taking the number of affected districts to 40.
Health workers culled nearly 12,000 fowls after tests confirmed some chickens had died from the bird flu virus in the northeast, livestock officials said.
The H5N1 virus, first detected in Bangladesh in March last year, was quickly brought under control through aggressive measures. However follow-up monitoring eased in later months, prompting the disease to reappear, experts say.
So far, no human infections have been reported in Bangladesh.
The interim government has enhanced compensation for poultry farmers to encourage them to report and kill sick birds.
More than half a million birds to be culled across the country, but the virus has spread to more than half the country's 64 districts.
