Poultry farms under watch, 12,500 birds culled
More than 12,500 chicken have been culled following an outbreak of bird flu in Bingiriya and all farms in the area have been brought under close watch while health authorities assured that the situation poses no threat to people.
Following the outbreak of the disease in two farms in Bingiriya, all farms in the area were brought under close watch yesterday with some of them being guarded by police to prevent owners from selling chicken.
Dr. W.K. de Silva, Director General of the Department of Animal Production and Health, said the disease was not the virulent, highly pathogenic “avian flu” (A/H5N1) but one caused by a different virus: A/H5N2.
Health authorities urged the public not to panic following the outbreak of bird flu in Bingiriya.
It is not the virulent, highly pathogenic “avian flu” (A/H5N1) but a different virus (A/H5N2), stressed the Animal Production and Health Depatnent DirectorGeneral Dr. W.K. de Silva, while Health Ministry Additional Secretary Dr. Palitha Mahipala reiterated that the four hospitals in the area are on alert to deal with any emergency.
The Sunday Times learns that more than 5,000 chicken on two farms in Bingiriya have been ‘de-populated’ after some of them were confirmed as being infected with the low pathogenic H5N2.
Comparing the two viruses, Dr. de Silva said humans were at risk from H5N1 while with H5N2 there was no risk to humans. There should be no fear in eating chicken, he assured.
Sri Lanka has been able to ward off H5N1 so far, it is learnt.
As a precautionary measure, teams from his department attired in protective gear sealed off the two farms, de-populated them and then disinfected them, he said. “We have to be careful and take all precautions as the virus could mutate into a more virulent form and cause problems for humans,” an official said.
The de-population was according to international guidelines by euthanizing them with gas, he explained, adding that at a meeting with Minister Arumugam Thondaman on Monday a decision was also taken to write to the Treasury requesting compensation for the farmer concerned.
With strong surveillance measures being in place since 2005 following the spread of H5N1 around the world, the three farms of this farmer had been under the microscope recently as in the last six months 300 birds had died there with post-mortems revealing the cause as chicken anaemia.
Pointing out that in H5N2 there is no transmission to humans, Dr. Mahipala of the Health Ministry said that hospital and field staff in the area were not only knowledgeable but also equipped to deal with any emergency.
Within a few hours of being alerted to this bird flu virus, the Additional Secretary had called a meeting of relevant officials, with two expert teams being sent to the area the following day to strengthen the knowledge of the staff there.
The four hospitals in and around the area -- Bingiriya, Hettipola, Kuliyapitiya and Chilaw -- are well-equipped and also stocked with the necessary drugs, the Sunday Times understands with the Chilaw District General Hospital and Kuliyapitiya Base Hospital having isolation facilities.
The staff is also capable of taking throat swabs if there are suspicions of a patient developing related symptoms and the Medical Research Institute has the laboratory facilities to test them. The MRI is also open 24 hours for such testing, added Dr. Mahipala.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), avian influenza (AI) is an infectious viral disease of birds (especially wild water fowl such as ducks and geese), often causing no apparent signs of illness. AI viruses can sometimes spread to domestic poultry and cause large-scale outbreaks of serious disease. Some of these AI viruses
have also been reported to cross the species barrier and cause disease or subclinical infections in humans and other mammals.
AI viruses are divided into two groups based on their ability to cause disease in poultry: high pathogenicity or low pathogenicity. (Pathogenicity means the ability to cause disease.) Highly pathogenic viruses result in high death rates (up to 100% mortality within 48 hours) in some poultry species. Low pathogenicity viruses also cause outbreaks in poultry but are not generally associated with severe clinical disease, states the WHO.
As of January 24, this year, the cumulative number of “confirmed” human cases of avian flu (H5N1) recorded by the WHO was 583 of whom 344 (more than half) had died. Animal Production and Health Depatnent officials wearing protective gear carrying out tests in a Bingiriya farm