KARACHI, Jan 31: Even though the strains of virus that caused an outbreak of avian influenza recently in the city do not transmit to human beings, the sale of chicken meat and eggs has declined by about 66 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively.

This was claimed by some representatives of the poultry farmers of Karachi at a press briefing on Saturday afternoon. "The debris of the outbreaks of the poultry disease in Far East has fallen on all of us despite the fact that our own birds were not responsible for making any Pakistani sick," remarked one of them.

MNA Mohammad Hussein Mehnati, Abdul Maroof Siddiqui, Dr Zafarul Islam Siddiqui, Afsar Qadri and Khalil Sattar of the Pakistan Poultry Association told newsmen that due to the outbreak, the poultry farmers had suffered a loss of at least Rs700 million.

The avian disease had hit the poultry farms in and around Karachi during November and December. "But by now the disease is totally under control. The birds are no longer dying."

Answering a question, they said the samples taken from the affected birds had been tested at the Veterinary Research Institute, Lahore, NARC Islamabad, Sindh Poultry Vaccine Centre and K&N's Research Laboratory and the strains identified were H7 and H9 which had no similarity with H5N1, responsible for outbreaks in Thailand and Vietnam.

Some samples were sent to the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, United Kingdom, as well. "Their report is now with us which says that the strain responsible for the outbreak in Pakistan was H7".

Responding to another question, they said administering a vaccine for H5 strain before it actually hit would be akin to introducing the deadly disease in the poultry farms of Pakistan. "So, steps against the H5 strain of virus should be taken only after it rears its head in the Pakistani farms."

The decline in the sale of chicken meat and eggs had deprived a lot of people of the proteins they badly needed, they observed. The ongoing crisis in the poultry industry had threatened the livelihood of more than 50,000 people.

"We are not just talking here of the poultry farmers but also of the chicken and egg wholesalers, the chicken and egg retailers and the people involved in the production and sale of feed and so on."

One of the speakers explained that avian influenza had hit parts of the country before too. "This kind of problem is not new. We have had this problem in the past too but this is the first time that Karachi has been affected."

He added that never had there been a case in the country which involved the transmission of the disease to a human being. "If by mistake someone consumes the meat from an affected bird even then no problem is likely because the virus gets eliminated at between 50 to 70 degrees."

Answering a question, they said before making a public announcement they wanted to be doubly sure that chicken meat and eggs were safe for consumption. "That's why we waited for the various labs to complete their studies and reports. This took between four to six weeks."

Meanwhile, a delegation of Town Nazims and Councillors visited some poultry farms in Karachi as part of their investigations into the bird flu problem. Some members of the Pakistan Medical Association accompanied them.

Dr Qaiser Sajjad, the association's secretary-general, told this reporter that during his visit to the various farms he had interviewed several poultry workers. "During these interviews I did not find anything of importance."

All the workers interviewed seemed healthy and showed no signs of having contracted influenza, or other ailments, recently. "We are concerned primarily with human health and I am satisfied that the chickens in the farms don't pose a danger to human health."