It is steadily getting worse and could easily spin out of control if it acquires a virulent form. The latest outbreak of the avian influenza sweeping West Bengal is the most serious India has ever faced

Bird flu has hit hard India's Rs 36,000-crore poultry industry, already smarting under a steep rise in essential feed prices. Although the flu is restricted to West Bengal, crashing wholesale prices

baglihar inspection: Pakistan has said that it will inspect the Baglihar dam before it becomes operational. Spokesperson of Pakistan's foreign office, Mohammad Sadiq, said on January 30 that the

Culling of fowls in bird flu affected areas in the country continued with 20,185 chickens slaughtered and 49,507 eggs destroyed yesterday in Dhaka, Satkhira and Kishoreganj. As of yesterday, a total of 9,88,916 chickens have been culled and 12,21,143 eggs destroyed since February 2007 after the disease hit the country. The livestock officials slaughtered 1,432 chickens at MS Agro Farm of Mahbubul Haq at Kamlapur village of Birulia under Savar yesterday after the deadly disease was detected there, the bird flu control room sources said. Our Satkhira correspondent reports: At least 2,970 chickens, 100 ducks and 52 pigeons were culled and 309 eggs were destroyed at six poultry farms in village Magura of Sadar upazila last night after the presence of avian influenza was confirmed at a farm. District Livestock Officer Deb Narayan Roy said they collected samples of some dead chickens from Star Poultry Farm on Friday and sent those to Dhaka for test where the presence of deadly bird flu virus was detected. Eight teams from the District Livestock Office conducted the culling in Magura village and the 1 square kilometre adjoining area with the help of law enforcers and upazila administration. Meanwhile, at least 16,020 fowls were culled in the early hours yesterday at a farm at Kishoreganj sadar upazila following the detection of avian influenza virus, reports our Kishoreganj correspondent quoting the District Livestock Office (DLO) sources. So far, a total of 37,020 fowls had been culled in the district after the deadly disease broke out, the DLO sources said. District Livestock Officer Nurul Islam and Upazila Nirbahi Officer Shahnewaj Dilruba Khanam were present during the culling of the chickens at Aqua Culture Agro-based Fishery and Poultry Farm owned by Khaled Saifullah Shohel at the Beruail village. Talking to The Daily Star, the distressed farm owner said that while each chicken cost him over Tk 350 to rear it to the present egg-laying stage, the government is providing only Tk 96 per chicken as compensation. He would suffer a loss of around Tk 50,000 due to this, he added.

The poultry industry, which has suffered losses on account of the recent outbreak of avian flu in West Bengal, is eagerly waiting for the government's subvention on interest rates charged on loans extended to them by banks. The Reserve Bank of India, last week, had issued guidelines to banks suggesting a one-year moratorium on repayment of outstanding loans, conversion of working capital loans into term loans, and re-schedulement of term-loan repayment as a relief to the affected poultry industry. According to sources, the finance minister P Chidambaram may announce the government's subvention rates on loans extended to the poultry industry either before the Budget or may spell it out in his Budget speech. The Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had earlier announced that the government would work out separate relief packages for the poultry sector - one exclusively for poultry farmers in West Bengal and the other for the poultry industry in the country as a whole, which has suffered in sales due to a dip in prices in the country and the ban imposed by different countries on Indian poultry imports. The government's package would include subvention rates on interest charged by banks. He had assured that the financial package would be an improved one over that announced in March 2006 on account of the outbreak of bird flu. The March 2006 package contained 4% interest subvention, a one-year moratorium period for repayment of loans, conversion of working capital into loans, and extension of fresh loans for working capital. "The poultry industry had demanded zoning of poultry areas in the country based on geo-climatic conditions, so that exports from bird flu-free zones can be business as usual, ban on export of corn and soybean to augment feed availability, 7% central government's interest subvention on loans, and a two-year moratorium on repayment of loans,' said Anuradha Desai, chairperson of the National Egg Coordination Committee. The government has turned down the proposal for zoning of poultry areas, even though the industry had pointed out such zoning or compartmentalisation exists in the US and is allowed by the world animal health organisation - OIE. It has also refused to impose a ban on exports of corn or soybean. India has a poultry population of 489 million (nearly 3% of world's poultry), out of which 51% is concentrated in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Due to the recent incidence of avian flu in West Bengal, culling operations were undertaken not only in those states but also in parts of the neighbouring states - Assam, Bihar, and Jharkhand.

Experts have called for a better surveillance of poultry birds and use of a foolproof mechanism for the detection of the Avian Influenza virus. They regretted the recent elimination and disposal of hundreds of birds suspected to be infected with the H5N1 virus at a Malir farm was carried out under no official supervision. The poultry farmers' association maintained that the owner of the affected poultry farm, Mashallah Poultry Farm, had been persuaded to cull his birds kept in a farm in the jurisdiction of the Malir cantonment board at the earliest. He had been told time was of the essence in containing the outbreak. Health and poultry officials said they remained helpless in taking measures on a war footing as they were not taken into confidence as soon as an outbreak was reported. Following reports about bird deaths in a large number at a poultry farm on the National Highway, the surveillance staff of the Sindh livestock department collected samples from birds suspected to be suffering from some severe diseases for various laboratory tests on Feb 21. The news that the samples had been tested positive at the national reference laboratory in Islamabad for the H5N1 virus was received in Karachi on the night of Feb 23. Those officials responsible for culling remained unaware of the development for a long time and had no idea that havoc was being wrought by

Heaving a sigh of relief after the prolonged bird flu scare in the State, the All Assam Poultry Farmers' Association (AAPFA) has divulged that the poultry industry in the State has managed to regain the lost market up to at least 60 per cent ever since the ban on the import of poultry products was lifted, excluding the West Bengal origin products. The association further informed that as the sale is going higher with every passing day, the prices of the poultry products, especially livestock would go up, thanks to the limited stocks of birds and other poultry products in the market. The State Government, it may be mentioned, had lifted the ban on the import of the poultry products a couple of days back. Culling of birds in bordering districts of Kokrajhar and Dhubri followed the ban, which was imposed after the outbreak of the avian influenza in the neighbouring West Bengal. Rajib Sarma, secretary of AAPFA, predicting a stiff rise in the prices of the poultry products in the next 10 to 15 days, said, Though chickens are now being sold at Rs 50 in the wholesale market, it is expected to go to around Rs 65 at least. "At present, as no livestock is being imported, the industry has failed to meet the demand, especially in the city,' Sarma pointed out. He, however, asserted that the local production would certainly get a boost in the next one month as the import of bird feed to the State has been allowed. "Our primary concern was regarding the acute shortage of feed, the ban on which was virtually throwing the entire poultry industry to the jaws of death. But the early decision on the part of the State Government to lift the ban has averted a major blow to the poultry industry,' Sarmah reiterated. It needs mention here that the region depends on States like West Bengal for at least 7,000 kilograms of chickens per day. Meanwhile, the association has also urged the State Government to release the money under the development project so that the industry can be revitalised quicker.