World | India
Experts visit Assam on bird-flu scare
India rushed two more teams of bird flu experts to the northeastern state of Assam to step up surveillance after nearly 100 people showed signs of the virus, health officials said yesterday.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:45 December 13, 2008
Guwahati: India rushed two more teams of bird flu experts to the northeastern state of Assam to step up surveillance after nearly 100 people showed signs of the virus, health officials said yesterday.
Health workers have yet to confirm any human cases of H5N1, but they said patients in six districts were suffering from fever and respiratory infections, which are symptoms of the virus in humans.
"No human cases of H5N1 have been confirmed in the state. But we are on maximum alert," Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam's Health minister, said.
Three teams of federal medical experts, including epidemiologists and microbiologists, are keeping a close watch on humans in affected areas of the oil- and tea-producing state.
The medical teams brought supplies of equipment as a preventative measure in case the virus spreads to humans, including 10,000 Tamiflu capsules, 6,000 surgical masks and two ventilators.
"More medicines and equipment will reach here in the next two days to cope up with the situation," Sarma said.
Veterinary officials have slaughtered more than 300,000 chickens and ducks since late November, after the virus was detected in poultry last month in a village close to Guwahati, the region's main city.
More than 400 rapid response teams have been formed for culling operations in areas affected by the disease.
Experts suspect it was carried to the region by migratory birds.
Culling operations
"By December 16, all culling operations will be completed," N. Gokul Ram, a top federal health official told reporters in Guwahati.
Police arrested six people in Guwahati on charges of smuggling more than 500 chickens out of the city, violating the ban on sale and transportation of the poultry products in the state.
Samples of dead chickens have been sent for testing in two more districts of Assam.
While no human cases have been reported in India, experts fear the H5N1 virus might mutate or combine with the highly contagious seasonal influenza virus and spark a pandemic that could kill millions of people.
Since the virus resurfaced in Asia in 2003, it has killed more than 200 people in a dozen countries, the World Health Organisation says.
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