Despite no reports of any bird flu cases from samples collected from the poultry industry since May, the government is closely watching the situation prior to approaching the France-based Organisation for Animal Health (OAH) for according it ‘the avian influenza free country’. “We are monitoring the situation closely and we will wait for some time prior to approaching OAH,” Pradeep Kumar, secretary, department of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries told FE. A ‘no bird flu’ status would allow poultry exports from the country.
According to OAH, the avian influenza-free country status is given if a nation reports no outbreak of bird flu for a stretch of three months from the time it completes disinfection and clean-up of the previous outbreaks. Besides, India and neighbouring Bangladesh have set up a joint mechanism through a series of meetings held amongst officials to share and monitor information on bird flu cases in the poultry industry.
The animal husbandry department under the ministry of agriculture in February 2008 had made a formal request to the Bangladesh government through the ministry of external affairs to share the genetic history of its virus.
Bangladesh had shared data on the genetic make up of the H5N1 virus strain, which had been found ‘similar’ to the bird flu virus that caused India’s worst Avian Influenza (AI) outbreak earlier this year.
The country produces more than 2.0 million tonne of broiler chickens annually, is the fifth largest producer in the world and is the largest producer of eggs, with a production of around 44 billion pieces.