February 11, 2004

Pakistan Poultry Association Says Virus "Mistaken" As Bird Flu

The Pakistan Poultry Association Punjab and Sindh has denied rumors of a bird flu outbreak in the country. Instead, it said that the disease that has hit local poultry is a common ailment mistaken as bird flu.

Consumer Education Board of Pakistan Poultry Association Convener Raza Mohammad Khursheed, Association's Punjab Zone Chairman Abdul Basit and Dr Mustafa Kamal, talking to newsmen here on Tuesday, said that six months back some multinational companies had tried to import SARS-affected chicken from China, which was strongly opposed by the association.

They strongly denied that there was any clue of bird flu in the country. They said that their poultry farms strictly followed the health department rules. They said that chickens, like human beings, also suffered from different ailments and they had to be administered required vaccines.

They announced that if a chicken purchased from any area of Pakistan, during laboratory tests, proved infected with the Thailand's HS virus, the association's office-bearers would be liable "to be hanged". They appealed to consumers not to put on the stake jobs of some 0.5 million people engaged in the poultry sector. They said that if present condition prevailed for 15 more days, the poultry business would be destroyed, completely.