Bird flu is on, so is passing-the-buck

The Centre on October 25 notified its confirmation that avian influenza has indeed struck the Central Poultry Development Organisation & Training Institute (CPDOTI) located in Byatha village in Hesaraghatta on the outskirts of Bangalore.

But despite the confirmation that 4,265 turkeys had died due to avian influenza and 206 chicken and 17 ducks died due to suspected infection from the same disease, the state health department and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)’s health department are engaged in a bureaucratic passing-the-buck. Each is stating that the responsibility of checking the disease spread lies solely with the state department of animal husbandry.

“The issue does not come under us. There is no scare in Bangalore either. The state health department is supposed to look into the matter. It does not come under BBMP,” Devaki Umesh , health commissioner, BBMP, told DNA.

But when DNA contacted Dr Dhanya Kumar, director, state department of health and family welfare, he said, “As per the guidelines of government of India, the animal husbandry department is supposed to take care of it. It has nothing to do with our department. As a doctor, I know that it is extremely rare that the flu spreads from the stock (birds) to humans. If the chicken is cooked above 70°Celsius, there is nothing to worry. They have also issued guidelines to cull the stock which are infected and the animal husbandry department is at it.”

What BBMP and the state health department seem to be ignoring is that several poultry farms surrounding the epicentre of the bird flu outbreak, CPDOTI, had resorted to distress sale to maximise their profits although many of them recorded whopping relative losses to the tune of up to Rs30-40 lakh each.

Poultry owners located on the periphery of CPDOTI told DNA that multiple parties were allowed to lift bulk stock at fraction of the prices to clear the stock. “We feared that if the stock was not sold, the birds would be culled and that we would record 100% losses,” said one of them.

Shockingly, none is able to tell now whether any of these birds among the stocks that were lifted were affected, and where they were destined.