Tackling the menace

The two-day meeting of donor countries to raise funds for combating the bird flu menace ended in Beijing yesterday with financial commitments amounting to $1.8 billion, thus exceeding the target of $1.5 million. This outcome should not surprise, as the global concern over a potential bird flu pandemic has heightened after the fresh incidents of human deaths in Turkey on account of the virus. This development shows that the dreaded avian influenza is no longer confined to Asia and has begun to spread to other parts of the world. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has succinctly declared that the bird flu sweeping across Turkey could become entrenched and spread to nearby states. The World Bank has assessed the immediate global financial cost to prepare for and respond to the outbreaks of this disease, at between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion. Most of this money would be needed in the Asian region, comprising Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Laos, the hotbeds of the disease, but the other continents too would require considerable resources deployed. Indeed, the European Union had pledged $ 100 million for this purpose even before the conference began. The US came up with a donation commitment of $334 million during the meet. It is worth bearing in mind that the actual fund requirement may exceed the World Bank estimate, because the bird flu threat has refused to abate despite the several containment measures that have been taken. Moreover, there is every danger that the most virulent type of the bird flu virus, H5N1, will mutate into a form which can spread easily from person to person. This raises horrific visions of a global pandemic of the grimmest kind, as witnessed in 1918-19. What is worse, the bird flu seems to be developing resistance to the most effective drug that exists today, Tamiflu. The search for new vaccines thus becomes even more urgent than before.

India, fortunately, has so far remained free of the disease though the influx of migratory birds this year has been higher than in the past couple of years. Now that the winter is already half-way through and the season for nomadic birds to fly out is approaching, the chances of an outbreak of the virus appear remote. But the risk has not vanished and there is, therefore, no room for complacency on taking measures to meet any contingency.

On another tack, the country's disease-free status should be viewed as an opportunity to capture some of the poultry markets vacated by the virus-affected poultry-exporting countries, including China and Indonesia. Many poultry importing nations, like Japan and the US, have already announced a ban on purchases from the virus-hit countries. Many others may follow suit in the near future. India has a dynamic poultry industry which has so far not looked at export markets because of burgeoning demand at home. The time may have come now for the Indian poultry industry to gear itself up to capitalise on the emerging export opportunities. What is needed is scaling up of output, which is not difficult in this industry, and expansion of the infrastructure for hygienic handling, processing and packaging of poultry products for export. The quality of products on offer from India needs to be such as to make them acceptable in the global market. If these measures are taken, the unfortunate bird flu threat can be turned into a business opportunity for the local poultry industry.