Indian state propose new measures to control bird flu

It has been proposed to set up a five-kilometre zone free of poultry along the border with Bangladesh in the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal.

 

The Centre in Kolkata has proposed that areas within five kilometres of the international border with Bangladesh will be kept poultry-free, in a strategy to prevent bird flu from flaring up in border states like Assam and West Bengal, which will be called Zone I.

 

According to media reports, authorities suspect that the H5N1 virus which afflicted the backyard poultry in the state, last year as well as this year, had its origin in Bangladesh.

 

Areas between five and ten kilometres of the border will be designated as Zone II. In this zone, the Union Agriculture Ministry has proposed that integrated companies will be asked to develop and demonstrate a 'secure model of poultry rearing' before the local population.

 

These integrated companies will distribute chicks among the local populace and ensure hygienic conditions and will buy back the reared birds at a later stage.

 

This will improve the rewards of poultry rearing and prevent bird flu in an unorganised sector, according to officials of the department of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries of government of India.

 

The Centre has also asked the state animal resources department to identify areas and the poultry population in these areas along the international border to implement the strategy.

 

According to the 2006 animal census conducted by state ARD department, the current poultry population in Zone I is more than 4.7 million, with a further 5.2 million in Zone II.

 

The Centre has proposed that initially this should be taken up in a small area and then it can be introduced in the rest of the border areas in a phased manner.

 

However, in recent pasts it has been seen that owners of backyard poultry defying culling orders or ban on transportation after outbreak of bird flu in neighbouring areas even after an awareness drive.