Be vigilant

Not too long after the mad cow epidemic in Europe and elsewhere that caused loss worth billions of dollars in the livestock sector, another dreaded disease, avian influenza or bird flu, is now threatening a repeat of the same in the poultry section.

This time it is closer home for India, and therefore of greater concern. Of the dozen countries that have already been hit by the malady, some are immediate neighbours, such as China, Pakistan and Myanmar.

What is more worrisome is that the flu virus does not remain confined to domestic birds like poultry and ducks, though these are the most affected ones.

The real virus reservoir is bird wildlife and there is no method available to either control it there or prevent the birds from crossing national borders.

Moreover, in the absence of any proven vaccine against this flu, the only way to prevent its spread is by destroying the entire threatened population, including the possible carriers of the virus.

The adverse impact of the epidemic is unlikely to remain confined to poultry farmers alone; all players down the chain in the poultry industry, including traders, exporters and restaurants, suffer loss of business. Some transnational food chains like KFC are already feeling the pinch.

Fortunately, from the Indian point of view, there is as yet little cause for panic as far as human health is concerned, though abundant caution is called for.

For one, the strains of the virus that has affected poultry farms in Karachi (in Pakistan) are said to be H7 and H9, both of which are relatively less virulent and do not affect human beings.

Otherwise, considering the pervasive lack of hygiene in Pakistan's poultry industry (the Indian scene is no better), there would have been human casualties by now.

Besides, the Indian authorities have this time acted rather swiftly to take preventive action. Apart from banning the import of all poultry-related products from the infected countries, the government has made monitoring and disease vigilance in the poultry sector mandatory.

Though the animal husbandry department has mooted screening of individuals, especially those coming from the affected regions, this may amount to over-reaction at this stage.

Past experience suggests that this disease cannot be communicated from one human being to another. Only people coming in contact with birds carrying virulent forms of pathogen, such as H5N1 and H5N2, run the risk of catching the infection.

However, the real danger, as pointed out by the World Health Organization, is that if such forms of viruses mutate with the human influenza virus, it could spell peril.

However, considering the recent experience in combating Sars, it is likely that the containment of any potential danger would be quicker and easier. But that does not warrant any laxity in stamping out the disease at the earliest.