The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : ‘Namakkal inimical to bird flu’

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Friday, Jan 18, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

‘Namakkal inimical to bird flu’

Special Correspondent

Collector forms district task force panels

( File photo)

Hale and healthy: There is no trace of any outbreak of bird flu in Namakkal district. —

NAMAKKAL: At a time when West Bengal is battling hard to contain the outbreak of the dreaded avian influenza A(H5N1) virus in two of its districts, Namakkal in Tamil Nadu, a major poultry zone, remains immune and sanitised thanks to a stringent bio-security measures.

The industry is so confident that it exhibits no traces of pathological fears about its possible invasion of this dreaded strain that has triggered panic-fuelled alarms in the States of West Bengal and Maharashtra.

Its unflinching confidence stems from myriad factors. Namakkal Egg Zone has remained untouched by this dreaded virus all these years, including the 2006 outbreak reported in Maharashtra.

Farmers say that the climate in Namakkal is hot and humid with the maximum temperature ranging between 40 and 42 degree Celsius and minimum of 35 and 37 degree Celsius, which they claim is inimical to this dreaded virus.

They never rear backyard poultry, which has been the target of the virus in West Bengal now.

A leading poultry owner says that the bio-security measures in their farms including the spraying of anti-viral solution and administration of 16 vaccines at appropriate times have transformed the industry into a healthy and strong one.

However, farmers and Namakkal district administration are not preferred to have a laidback approach to the serious issue. Though they are optimistic that they could handle the crisis, they are not taking any chances. Strong precautionary measures are being undertaken vigorously.

Collector G. Sundaramurthy has formed District Task Force Committees and 20 Rapid Response Teams for a close monitoring. As on today there is no unusual death reported from any farms in the Zone, he says.

Meanwhile, the National Egg Coordination Committee says that the virus attacks only the chicks produced in government hatcheries. It says that 98 per cent of the day-old chicks produced in India are from the organised private sector and less than two per cent is by Government hatcheries.

Industry circles are worried that the entire poultry industry, which provides employment to over 3.2 million persons and contributes Rs.36,000 crore to the GNP, will suffer a set back, because of the incidence of the outbreak in an isolated back-yard poultry pocket in the country. It urges the Government to announce the zoning without any further delay.

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