Fingers are being pointed at Burma for the outbreak of bird flu to have crossed the border to the Indian state of Manipur.

 

 

Indian officials and traders suspect that the bird flu virus has come from Burma last week.

 

 

The fresh outbreak of the epidemic in southern Burma might be connected with the outbreak in Manipur for ‘free-chicken trade’ prevails along this sector of the Indo-Burma international border.

 

 

Manipur’s situation is getting worst by the day. Indian officials here are yet to find the source of the outbreak though the deadly H5N1 virus struck the Chingmeirong Ira Poultry farm in Manipur’s Imphal east district on July 25 killing 132 chickens reared by Sagolsem Irananda, a poultry farmer.

 

 

Dr Th. Dorendra, Director, Veterinary and Animal Husbandry department who is supervising culling at least 1.5 lakh birds in a five kilometer radius in Imphal, suspects that the virus came from Burma. He told reporters here that the bird flu most likely came through the porous Indo-Burma border.

 

 

But the first bird flu affected family of the region rejected the allegation that they might have imported chickens from Burma when the country was hit by avian influenza in March.

 

 

Traders also believe that the virus might have come across the border as hundreds of chickens along with eggs were brought in from Burma ‘routinely’ to Manipur every month.

 

 

“Despite the ban, many traders smuggle hundred of chickens and 40 to 50 cartons of eggs in every day. Even before the outbreak in June, chickens from Burma used to arrive here because the rates are comparatively cheaper,” a poultry trader told Mizzima.

 

 

The turnover of Manipur’s poultry sector is more than Rs. 30 million. It employs more than 4,000 people as India is the world’s fourth-largest producer of eggs and fifth in chicken broilers. It produced 43 billion eggs and 1.7 billion broilers in 2005, according to industry estimates.

 

 

Meanwhile the report of fresh outbreak of bird flu in two poultry farms in Thanbyuzayat, Mon State, southeastern Burma forced tightening of the Indian border trade points, according to agency sources.

 

 

The report said that authorities have adopted measures to check the outbreak, culling more than 300 chickens in two poultry farms where the H5N1 virus was identified.

 

 

This fresh outbreak comes a month after a case occurred in a privately owned chicken farm in Pegu Division, 80 kilometres north of Rangoon in June. Earlier outbreaks in Burma were identified in February and April.

 

 

Manipur’s bird flu control wing took immediate precautionary measures to monitor movement of the livestock through the State’s important transit points at its borders including Moreh town, Mao hill station and Jiribam town.

 

 

Since the outbreak of bird flu in Manipur on July 25, Chingmeirong, a typical locality in Imphal east district of Manipur is now in the news. “We’re ruined, all chicks are gone” said Irananda whose family is dependent on the poultry farm which has no insurance cover.

 The State Veterinary Department culled 1.3 lakh chickens, including 5,000 ducks in the last five years. Amidst this Manipur health Minister Ph Parijat announced that there are no cases of bird flu among humans in the state so far, and the situation is well under control. Medical teams have checked altogether 2,35,161 residents in the areas within a five-kiolmetre radius of Chingmeirong, and so far not one case of infection in human beings has been reported.