March 22, 2006

 

Pakistan's poultry industry braces for further drop in sales

 

 

Pakistan's poultry industry is bracing for a further drop in sales after the government confirmed Tuesday (Mar 21) the country's first two cases of the deadly H5N1 bird flu.

 

H5 bird flu was detected in chickens at two farms in north-western Pakistan last month, which sent chicken sales tumbling by 40 percent, according to an industry association. The government said tests conducted in Britain confirmed the subtype to be H5N1.

The Agriculture Ministry said it had taken all necessary measures to stop it spreading further in Pakistan but urged farmers to be vigilant.

 

Neighbouring India, Iran and most recently, Afghanistan, have already reported H5N1 outbreaks, but officials confirmed this was the first in Pakistan.

 

"This has never happened in our life. This is for the first time in our history that this (H5N1) has been reported," said Rana Mohammed Akhlaq, the ministry's deputy animal husbandry commissioner.

 

Pakistan's cases were detected at a commercial farm in Charsadda, near Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, and at a small breeder farm in hill resort city of Abbottabad.

 

The ministry said the farms were quarantined, 25,000 chickens slaughtered and farm workers given medical checkups. The workers were found to be free of infection.

 

"So far no new farm or bird has been found to be affected with the disease anywhere in the country," a ministry statement said.

 

It urged all poultry farmers to increase the level of "bio-security" at their farms and immediately report any abnormal or high mortality among poultry.

 

Raza Muhammad Khursan, chairman of Pakistan Poultry Association, said he expected a heavy impact from Tuesday's announcement.

 

"This will affect our industry heavily unless awareness is created among people that the virus was confined to only two farms and not found anywhere else in the country," he said.