ISLAMABAD, March 21: Officials on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of any more bird flu infections in the country after laboratory tests confirmed the presence of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in two poultry farms in Charsadda and Abbottabad. “Tests carried out in Pakistan and abroad to determine whether traces of H5 and H5N1 types of avian influenza were present in Charsadda and Abbottabad on Feb 27 have proved positive,” said Dr Muhammad Afzal, a spokesman for the ministry of food, agriculture and livestock.
Samples sent to the World Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza in Weybridge, England, endorsed the findings of Islamabad’s National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory that the infection was avian influenza (H5N1 type), according to Dr Afzal.
However, the spokesman ruled out the possibility of any other poultry farm in the country being infected with bird flu. He said that tests carried out on birds from Punjab’s and Sindh’s poultry farms had proved negative. Nevertheless, he said, a countrywide survey had been ordered as a precautionary measure.
Dr Afzal said that strict measures had been taken to minimise the spread of infection to other poultry farms and the country in general. These farms were quarantined and all birds at these farms were selected with cooperation of the poultry farmers and Pakistan Poultry Association.
“The farm premises (in Charsadda and Abbottabad) were disinfected. The health ministry placed workers under a survey and declared them free of infection. All teams to examine the workers had since been under increased surveillance and so far no new farm or bird has been found to be infected with the disease anywhere in the country,” he said.
A statement issued by the ministry of food, agriculture and livestock said provincial governments had adopted strict precautionary steps and put poultry farms under extensive surveillance. The technical staff of the provincial livestock departments were collecting samples, testing them at their respective labs and sending the suspected samples to the reference laboratory in Islamabad, it said.
The ministry urged all the poultry farmers to increase the level of bio-security at their farms and immediately report any abnormal or high mortality to local veterinarians or district livestock and poultry development officers for immediate diagnosis.
Agencies Add: “The public is assured that cooked poultry meat and eggs are safe to eat and there should not be any undue concern in this regard,” the ministry’s statement said.
A ministry official said a network of 12 satellite labs had been set up with the capacity to diagnose avian influenza.
These labs are located in Islamabad, Karachi, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Abbottabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Gilgit and Muzaffarabad, he added.
Another suspected outbreak in Hyderabad, where 2,000 dead chickens were found on a rubbish tip, has tested negative, officials said.
Pakistan Poultry Association chairman Raza Mahmood Khursand called for the public to be calm and said Pakistan had already vaccinated all existing flocks of chickens after importing vaccines at the beginning of March.
“It is clear that the virus was found at the two farms only,” he said.
