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Another case of bird flu detected
The government last week confirmed the presence of bird flu virus in a poultry farm in Sihala, which is near Islamabad. It was the second evidence of bird flu in the country.
“Tests have confirmed the presence of H5N1 at a poultry farm in Sihala and we have culled some 3,500 chickens there,” said animal husbandry commissioner of the federal food ministry, Dr Mohammad Afzal. The government had declared a red alert.
However, Dr Afzal said, eating chicken was “still safe as no case of human contact with the virus has so far been detected” from anywhere in the country. Tests on samples taken from the small poultry farm in Sihala were conducted at the Reference Laboratory on Bird Flu of the National Agriculture Research Council.
The samples were taken from the farm late last week when the Punjab government reported deaths of chickens there. The ministry then collected blood samples from the farm for serological testing that also confirmed the presence of H5N1 strain.
Answering a question, Dr Afzal said he was not sure whether the government would send the samples to an international laboratory for reconfirmation as it had done when the virus was found to have attacked chickens at two farms in the NWFP.
Meanwhile, former president of the Pakistan Poultry Association, Dr Mohammad Aslam, has sought support of the government and people in “saving the poultry industry” from collapse.
Mycoplasma advance disease diagnosis laboratory and biotechnology laboratory facilities are so far not available for the poultry industry in Pakistan, according to the project document. Director of the institute, Dr Shamsul Hassan, said the project costing Rs30 million would be fully operational by 2008 and, with the strengthening of existing research facilities, the PRI would be able to precisely diagnose existing as well as emerging diseases.
“We will hopefully be able to tackle all the important poultry diseases, including bird flu. There would be no need to send any sample outside the country for confirmation,” Dr Hassan said.
Punjab government is expected to approve, in the next financial year, the setting up of an avian flu epidemics surveillance centre at the PRI, according to a senior official of the Punjab government.
The threat of avian flu epidemics might be reduced if lost and degraded wetlands were restored to provide better habitat for disease-carrying migratory species and reduce their contact with domestic poultry, according to a United Nations study.
The metamizole salt, commonly known as Novelgin, was banned by the Drug Registration Board at its meeting on Feb 23 this year. However, until recently, neither the Punjab health department had any instructions to withdraw Novelgin and other medicines containing metamizole from the market nor was the Pakistan Chemists Retailers Association ever asked to stop their sale.
As a result, Novelgin continued to be sold in the shape of tablets, syrup, injections and drops in the open market without check. Only last week did the health department issue a circular to inform its field staff that the DRB had cancelled the registration of medicine containing metamizole.
The health department has asked all its drug inspectors to ensure compliance of the decision in letter and spirit. It said all drug inspectors should check the sale outlets and manufacturers to stop the sale of all the drug formulations containing metamizole in their respective jurisdictions.
According to the order, “all the manufacturers of drugs containing metamizole shall withdraw the stocks within 14 days.” It is learnt that there are around 41 brands of the banned drug, which are manufactured and sold by 24 national and multinational companies in the country.
The drug was first banned in 1977 by the US Food and Drug Administration.
This was stated by president of the Child Aid Association, Prof Nizamul Hasan, while addressing an event held to mark the Foundation Day of the Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at NICH recently. — Agencies
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