Poultry products in Lanka absolutely safe

by Gamini Warushamana

Poultry products in Sri Lanka are 99% safe and all measures have been taken to prevent a bird flu outbreak said the president of the All Ceylon Poultry Farmers' Association Dr. D. D. Wanasinghe.

After a new round of bird flu outbreak was reported in India fears of bird flu spread in the country damaging the industry on many occasions in the past. However, the disease was never found in Sri Lanka. According to market sources this time there is not much of a impact on demand for poultry products in the country.

Dr. Wanasinghe said that the disease has spread in India since 2000 but Sri Lanka was not affected thanks to the natural protection the country enjoys being an island and the strong measures the relevant authorities had taken.

Bird flu can come to Sri Lanka, from migratory birds and imported poultry products and feeds.

The migratory birds are now flying back and therefore the disease cannot be spread by birds. The Department of Livestock and Animal Health (DLAH) and health authorities have taken measures to prevent bird flu coming to the country.

Action has been taken to immediately stop all poultry products imports from countries where the disease is reported. Hence, imports from India were stopped immediately after the disease was found in India recently, Dr. Wanasinghe said.

The Department of Wild Life and DLAH have recognised the resting areas of migrating birds and trained officers have been employed to regularly test birds droppings, feathers and water samples from lakes where they are living under a WHO funded program.

This testing has been carried out continuously for a long time and there is no evidence of bird flu in Sri Lanka so far, he said.

Dr. Wanasinghe, a veterinary surgeon and lecturer of the Veterinary Science Faculty of the Peradeniya University said that veterinary surgeons and veterinary assistants in the country have educated poultry farmers about the disease and introduced precautionary measures.

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Highlights

According to reports over two million birds have already been culled, but the authorities now say they will slaughter thousands of birds.

They will also ban rearing backyard poultry in infected districts for at least three months.

According to the World Health Organisation, this is India's most serious outbreak of bird flu.

The authorities say a major problem is that most poultry in the state of 80 million people are raised in backyards and some farmers have resorted to hiding their birds from culling crews.

Experts fear the H5N1 strain could mutate into a form easily transmitted from person to person, leading to a pandemic, but there have been no reported human infections in India yet.

India, the world's second largest producer of eggs, has seen a fall of roughly 50 per cent in egg sales abroad, but the losses, around $20 million, is small given India's trillion dollar economy.

Local poultry markets have also suffered. Chicken purchases in southern and West India were down between 20 to 30 per cent over the past two weeks. However, the disease has spread across borders and in neighbouring Bangladesh, hundreds of crows have also died of bird flu.

The virus spread to nearly half of the country's 64 districts since March last year despite mass-culling of poultry after outbreaks are reported.

No human infections have been reported in Bangladesh. But the health authority has directed civil surgeons in all districts to create an isolation unit to treat suspected human cases.

Meanwhile, the World Development Report 2008 of the World Bank, issued last week focusing on agriculture for development said animal diseases have been a major economic issue.

The cost of avian flu runs into tens of billion dollars. From January 2003 - 2007 the H5N1 strain of avian flu has been responsible for 4,544 documented outbreaks in poultry in 36 countries, associated with 269 human cases and 163 fatalities, the report said.

According to the report, the primary method of controlling the disease is to quickly cull diseased animals and the others who may have come in contact with, reducing viral load.

Vaccination is expensive and difficult to implement in underdeveloped countries. Hence controlling the zoonotic disease in the animal vector is crucial.

The key is to respond quickly and comprehensively once the disease appears in animals, the report said.