World attempts to combat Bird Flu

Indian health officials went door-to-door in the poultry-farming district of Navapur on Monday searching for people possibly infected by the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus. They were accompanied by German troops who helped in collecting the carcasses of wild birds in a desperate attempt to contain the fast-moving disease. The Maharashtra government now plans to slaughter some 700,000 birds within a three-kilometre (1.5-mile) radius of the outbreak. Checkpoints have also been set up to stop people carrying poultry out of the area. Health officials suggested that there should be no movement of poultry out of Navapur. Neighbouring Nepal and Pakistan have banned poultry imports from India, while Bangladesh said it would step up surveillance along its border with India to prevent birds from being smuggled into the country. Sri Lankan health officials fear that the country was at high risk of contracting bird flu because of migratory birds from India. Malaysia's government reported the death of 40 chickens last week due to H5N1 virus in an area near Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia's Agriculture Minister reported no human deaths though. All 110 chickens in the area, covering four hamlets, were culled. Malaysia had declared itself free of bird flu in January 2005, more than six weeks after its last infection was detected. Meanwhile, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said it has signed a pact with Laos to support a three-year program to combat bird flu. The US$2.9 million (2.4 million euro) agreement is aimed at strengthening legal and regulatory frameworks, veterinary capacity and disease control and surveillance systems as well as public awareness of the disease in cities and the countryside. Meanwhile European Union's agriculture ministers, met to discuss ways to combat bird flu - such as vaccinating the poultry, as the H5N1 strain spread to a half dozen European nations. The European Union's top poultry producer, France, is among those grappling with its first reported case of bird flu. Chicken farmers reported that the consumption had fallen, causing a loss of over millions of dollars. Nearly 250 German troops cleared away dead birds from the Baltic island of Ruegen, where the country's first case of the disease were confirmed in wild birds last week. The Indian poultry industry could suffer badly if the virus spreads. India exports some US$84.4 million (70.6 million euro) worth of poultry and eggs annually, mostly eggs and egg powder to Europe, Japan and the Middle East.