KARACHI, Feb 6: Showing grave concern over the reported presence of bird flu in a cottage poultry farm in Rawalpindi, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) Karachi Chapter on Tuesday expressed it fear that the lack of hygiene standards in our poultry sector might spread the deadly disease in the country.

PMA Karachi General Secretary Dr Qaiser Sajjad told PPI that according to Livestock Commissioner at the Ministry of Agriculture Muhammad Afzal all the chickens in the flock of about 40 birds at a house in Rawalpindi had died or been culled as a result of H5N1.

He said in Pakistan's first reported cases of H5N1 bird flu were found in chickens in February last year in the NWFP, where about 40,000 chickens were culled.

He regretted that almost the whole poultry framing sector, as well as shops selling chicken, was being run on unhygienic lines and there was no check and balance to impose proper hygienic and precautionary measures to ensure safety of poultry farm and chicken shop workers and consumers, especially housewives who directly touch raw chicken and eggs during cooking.

Dr Sajjad said that former City Nazim of Karachi Niamatullah Khan during his tenure had formed an inquiry committee comprising medical experts, poultry associations, chicken sellers bodies and other stakeholders to visit poultry farms as well as chicken selling outlets in the city to prepare a report about precautionary and hygienic methods being adopted by this sector.

He said that the committee members extensively visited poultry farms, poultry markets and chicken shops in various part of the city and submitted a report to Niamatullah Khan in which they expressed grave concern over the lack of precautionary measures and hygienic standards in the poultry sector.

Dr Sajjad said workers in poultry farms were unaware of the dangers of bird flu and they lacked proper training to handle sick and dead birds.

He said that in poultry farms there was no arrangements to keep healthy birds away from the sick ones. He said that vehicles transporting eggs and poultry birds from poultry farms to markets and shops were highly contaminated with salvia and excretion of birds. He said that these vehicles were rarely washed and transportation of birds and eggs in these dirty vehicles was a grave threat of spreading poultry diseases, including bird flu. -- PPI