After sweeping across two years and a wide swathe of South East Asia, parts of Central Asia, Africa and in Europe as recent as this week, the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus has been detected in India—in the tribal pocket of Navapur in northern Maharashtra’s Nandurbar district.

While health experts always believed that the disease was knocking on India’s doors, it was only at 2 pm today that the government was alerted by the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal.

The lab confirmed the presence of the virus in eight samples of the dozen it received from Nandurbar—tests were being conducted on blood samples from dead birds since February 11 after about 40,000 chickens were reported to have died in the area.

The confirmation of the strain came after a committee of experts was formed by the Bhopal lab to examine the samples. The lab tried to match the Nandurbar samples with those received from Bangkok. It was after this test that the lab said the samples were positive.

Since the report of the first outbreak of the disease in 2003, the lab has tested 25,000 samples but has never found the H5N1 strain until today.

While no human cases of the disease have been reported so far, four human samples—three children under seven and a woman from Nandurbar—are being tested at the National Institute of Virology and another 12 are likely to reach by tomorrow morning. All the four are in hospital under observation after they reported flu-like symptoms.

At Ground Zero, district officials grappled with tough choices: the first, how to cull around 8 lakh chickens, from 7 am Sunday, within 3 km of the 16 poultry farms in the affected zone.

Minister for Animal Husbandry Anees Ahmed refused to elaborate on the method that would be used to kill the affected birds. ‘‘One of the options is to use carbon monoxide,’’ he told PTI.

Maharashtra has stopped all trade of poultry emanating from Nandurbar district. The government’s priority right now was to prevent the disease from spreading, said Ahmed. Minister of State for Animal Husbandry Hassan Mushrif said that culling will include not just the 16 affected poultry farms but also sick birds in all of the estimated 60 farms in Navapur.

In New Delhi, a high-level meeting was chaired by Cabinet Secretary B K Chaturvedi and was attended by officials from the Ministry of Health, Environment and Animal Husbandry. This committee is likely to meet every alternate day to review the situation.

While no national alert has been issued, the governments of Maharastra and Gujarat have been asked to remain on alert. The Centre is also not considering banning of poultry or poultry products as yet. Poultry from the area, however, has been banned.

Speaking to The Sunday Express after the meeting, Chaturvedi confirmed the arrival of the disease in the country. ‘‘Eight samples taken from poultry have tested positive for H5N1 strain. Ranikhet flu which was earlier suspected to be the cause of death in about 40,000 to 50,000 birds in Nandurbar has been ruled out,’’ he said.

According to him, 60 teams of experts are already in the area and a rapid response team of epidemiologists and virologists has also been sent. A control room has been set up by the department of animal husbandary.

India has so far been safe from the disease even though fear of migratory birds bringing the virus to the country was expressed as early as August 2005.

From mid-December 2003 through early February 2004, poultry outbreaks caused by the H5N1 virus were reported in eight Asian nations, Republic of Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, and China, having killed 91 people and infected 169 besides forcing culling of about 150 million birds.

Most of these countries had never before experienced an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in their histories. The bar-headed gulls were suspected to be the carrier of disease for India.

“The outbreak is serious in birds but no human cases have been reported as yet,’’ said P K Hota, Secretary, Health. According to him, the four admitted in hospital are under observation. “They had fever and some respiratory symptoms but their lungs are not affected, so we don’t think it is the case of human avian flu. Some more people have been quarantined as a precautionary measure and 12 more samples will reach NIV soon,’’ he added.

The health ministry has already dispatched about 4000 pieces of protective gear for the cullers and staff of the farms and 2000 cycles one cycle: a dose of 10 tablets of Tamiflu. Another 5000 cycles are likely to reach soon.

“We already have 75,000 courses of medicine which means 7.5 lakh doses and are ordering another 2.5 lakh doses. But we will wait before administering the medicine in people but cullers will be given the medicine,’’ said Hota.

In Navapur, the local buzz is that two weeks ago, when the first dead chickens were found, nervous poultry farmowners discarded the carcasses in the fields. As the death toll climbed, hatchery owners reportedly started hiding the birds in grain containers and transporting them out of the area. Many poultry farmers on the Navapur-Surat route started burying their chickens.

‘‘These are all traditional poultry farms, situated very close to each other and have no bio-safety measures in place,’’ says A M Kelkar, assistant commissioner, animal husbandry department, and in charge of poultries in northern Maharashtra. ‘‘Because of the concentration of chickens, the disease has spread so fast.’’

A six-member team led by Jasbir Singh, Deputy Commissioner, National Communicable Diseases Control and Research Centre, is camping here for the past three days. Director of Health Services Dr P P Doke and Secretary, Public Health, Vijay Satbir Singh, were on their way along with two state government teams.

with Abhiram Ghadyal-patil, Mumbai, and Milind Ghatwai, Bhopal

What is bird flu? Refers to large group of different influenza viruses that primarily affect birds. On rare occasions, these viruses can infect other species, including pigs and humans.

What’s the kind of flu confirmed in Nandurbar? Is it the same as the one reported across the world?
Yes, it’s the H5N1 “subtype.” Dangerous because it can infect humans.

How did it reach Nandurbar? Speculation that migratory birds spread H5N1 but Vibhu Prakash of Bombay Natural History Society says timing this is when migratory birds on their way out and area suggest it’s not. Some think poultry farmers may have imported “stock.” Import of poultry and meat from countries reported to have H5N1 is banned but virus is spreading so fast that some imports could have slipped in. Jury is still out until probe is complete.

So what’s the worst case scenario?
WHO norms say pandemic needs three things: a new virus strain, its ability to infect humans; and its spreading from human to human. H5N1 meets the first two criteria, not the third—as of evidence available. Fear: virus mutates to pass from human to human.

How old is this virus? Not very. Only in 1997, H5N1 first infected humans in Hong Kong, causing six deaths. Since mid-2003, it has hit poultry hard. Millions of birds have been slaughtered after being infection being reported in the country.

And humans?
Since mid-2003, 169 human cases confirmed in four Asian countries, of whom 91 died. On Saturday, a death in Indonesia.

How does it spread?
Direct contact with infected poultry during slaughter, de-feathering, butchering, preparation for cooking or surfaces, objects contaminated by their faeces.
To date, most human cases have occurred in rural or “periurban” areas where households keep small poultry flocks, which often roam freely, sometimes entering homes or sharing outdoor areas where children play.

Is it safe to eat chicken? Yes, but take precautions. Normal temperatures used for cooking 70 degrees Celsius will kill the virus. Ensure that all parts of poultry fully cooked and that eggs, too, are properly cooked—no raw yolk.
If you live near the infection zone, avoid poultry from there. What about other birds? Ducks, sparrows, parrots at home?
These are vulnerable to the strain too and need to be isolated from wild birds.

Do vegetarians have to worry? Yes, if they are in close contact with infected birds in a chicken farm. Otherwise, only if H5N1 mutates to jump from human to human.

What’s the treatment?
No vaccines. Several countries working on one.
Two drugs, Oseltamivir commercially known as Tamiflu and Zanamivir Relenza can reduce severity and duration of illness sonu jain 038; toufiq rashid