Bird-flu outbreak rattles Nandurbar

Around 2.40 lakh hens culled, Nine-lakh eggs destroyed

Mumbai: For the third time in 20 years, Avian Influenza has hit Navapur, in Nandurbar district, with over 2.40 lakhs birds culled in the past few days as worried farmers await compensation and effective vaccines.

In some areas, all the infected birds in big and small farms have been eliminated by specialist teams, as per World Health Organisation (WHO) and central government’s guidelines.

This is the third time after 2006 and 2021 that the town – which produces 10-lakh eggs daily – has come under the attack of Avian Influenza, commonly known as ‘bird flu’, said Navapur Poultry Association (NPA) President Arief Balesaria.

“We rank the biggest in production of eggs by Layer Chicken after Pune and Baramati. There are other egg producing centres in the state. The Layer Chicken are among the best laying hens. But in the past fortnight or so, our production has come to a complete stop,” a concerned Balesaria told The Perfect Voice.

The 10-lakh eggs are sent to markets in Mumbai, Nashik, Jalgaon and even Surat, which will now be fed by other smaller suppliers from Maharashtra or other states, he said.

The outbreak in Navapur started mysteriously on April 12, when a local farmer discovered five dead chickens in his farm. Initially it was suspected to be heatstroke and a local Veterinary prescribed medicines, but by afternoon more than four dozen birds were snuffed out.

By next morning, the farmer lost more than 300 chickens even as other alarmed farmers in a three-km vicinity reported similar tragedies as the birds simply dropped dead without apparent symptoms, said Balesaria.

In Balesaria’s own Wasim Poultry Farm, the situation was ditto – five days after the first incident, he found 55 birds dead and by that evening, over 130 were no more, though the chickens were eating normally and not appearing sick.

After the local authorities were informed, samples were collected from three of the worst-hit farms and tested at the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal. They tested positive for the dreaded ‘Avian Influenza’, shocking the poultry farmers in Navapur.

Swift Action

Nandurbar Collector Dr. Mittali Sethi swung into action and declared large parts of Navapur as an ‘infected and surveillance’, spread over nearly 10 kms radius, banned all sale of poultry, bird-feed, and other related materials for three months, and local police were deployed to enforce the restrictions.

Meanwhile, by Monday, the infection figures zoomed up dramatically and till May 6, over 2.40 lakhs birds have been culled, nearly 9-lakh eggs destroyed plus 210 tonnes of bird feed disposed off, said Balesaria of the sudden calamity.

State and district officials have expressed apprehensions that the toll could climb much higher and have enforced strict monitoring in Navapur and also other egg-producing centres in north Maharashtra region.

Culling continues with the help of 18 officers daily while over 125 veterinarians and support staff have fanned out in the affected zone.

His son and third-generation independent farmer Tausif B. is grappling with his first bird-flu calamity and is worried about the future with his entire stock of 6 lakh eggs, 62,000 birds and 72-tons of feed destroyed.

“This time, my farm was not affected. But according to official protocols, my 30,000 chickens were culled and over 60,000 eggs destroyed. The government has banned us from restarting or restocking for at least three months, or till July 31, when the crisis is expected to be over. Presently, we are sitting idle and helpless as the losses pile up for all the 27 NPA member-farms,” rued Balesaria.

Farmers cry for better vaccines

As death stalks egg farms in Navapur, distressed farmers urged the Centre to urgently permit more effective vaccines to contain the spread of Avian Influenza, as existing measures are proving inadequate.

 

The NPA leaders claimed that the currently approved vaccines target the relatively milder H9N2 strain, while farms in the region are being devastated by the far more lethal H5N1 virus.

 

“The government has allowed vaccines for H9N2 strain. But the Layer chickens are hit by the deadlier H5N1 strain. Vaccines for H5N1 are already in use in several countries, including China, the United States and parts of Europe. Why are we being denied access to the same protection?” asked the NPA leaders.

 

India currently does not allow use of H5N1 vaccines, citing various concerns and relies on the traditional culling, movement restrictions and biosecurity measures in such outbreaks, though NPA alleges that Indian vaccine manufacturers are creating obstacles for getting better vaccines.