OneWorld.net (U.S.)

The Indian government has said that 94 of the 95 human samples for the H5N1 strain of bird flu have tested negative, and the last is being subjected to further tests to conclusively establish its status. Meanwhile, culling operations within a 10 km radius of Navapur in Maharashtra, ground zero of the disease outbreak in India, have concluded.

“Ninety-four out of 95 human samples are negative. The last is not positive for H5N1. We are testing it further as it does not match any classical profile of the H5N1 strain,” India’s Health Secretary P K Hota told the media on February 23, nearly a week after first reports of bird flu in the country emerged. The results of the last test will be known on February 24.

Tests on the 95 samples were carried out after an outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu was confirmed among chickens in the remote Indian town of Navapur in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar district, on February 18.

Reports appearing in a section of the press that two persons had tested positive for avian influenza were incorrect, a statement by India’s Ministry for Health and Family Welfare said. The ministry denied reports that there were some confirmed cases of avian influenza virus in humans. There were no human infections of bird flu as on February 22, the statement said.

However, earlier the same day, Hota said that there was a “distinct possibility” that “mild” avian influenza virus might have been transmitted from birds to humans in the affected zone. These “possibly infected” cases have been reported from among the 12 people quarantined at the Navapur sub-divisional hospital in Maharashtra. The 12 were hospitalised after they displayed flu-like symptoms.

Hota said that the possibility of the virus having been transmitted to humans could not be ruled out but that it appeared to be remote. “The patients have been isolated and treated with Tamiflu drug. Clinically, they looked all right and none of them have shown any signs of ‘acute distress’ yet,” he said.

Speaking to the media after the special taskforce formed to tackle the bird flu crisis met to review the outbreak situation on February 23, the health secretary said it was decided that Maharashtra would not accept any help from international agencies, as India was capable of tackling the situation on its own.

The release of an additional Rs 80 crore was announced to deal with the outbreak. All Indian states have been asked to use their resources to prevent a spread of the disease. The government has also begun distributing a compensation amount of Rs 40 to poultry farmers in the region. However, farmers say the sum is too small to help them tide over their huge losses.

India is the world’s sixth largest producer of eggs and the fifth largest producer of broiler chickens. It produced 43 billion eggs and 1.7 billion broilers in 2005, according to industry estimates.

Since the reported outbreak on February 18, health workers wearing masks and goggles have killed around 400,000 chickens in Navapur town. In Navapur and nearby villages, health workers are going around in auto-rickshaws making announcements about bird flu to the people, most of whom are ignorant about the disease.

Meanwhile, local authorities have decided to restrict the movement of people and traffic within a three km radius of Navapur. Entry and exit by road and rail will be regulated.

Adding to concerns are reports of more sudden deaths of poultry elsewhere in India. In the neighbouring state of Karnataka, 16,000 dead chickens were discovered, according to a senior government official. Also in the northeastern state of Assam. In Gujarat, Maharashtra’s northern neighbour, the police have banned the transport of chickens and eggs.

India is the 13th country in the world -- after Iraq, Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Iran, Austria, Germany, Egypt, India and France -- and the first in South Asia to be hit by avian influenza that has killed over 90 people in seven countries since 2003.

On February 20, Malaysia reported a fresh bird flu outbreak in poultry after having been considered free of the disease for over a year.

SOURCE: Infochange India