Avian flu-free India debates import of vaccine

New Delhi: India, which is free of any cases of avian flu, is mulling the import of vaccines to provide safeguards for poultry, a top official said here Monday.

“We are weighing the option of importing the H5N1 strain of avian flu vaccine for poultry. A technical committee is expected to submit its report (on this issue) in a week,” Animal Husbandry Commissioner S.K. Bandhopadhyay told a news conference.

The committee will study various factors before deciding whether to import the vaccine, including the inherent risk of bringing the virus strain into India.

In the case of a possible outbreak of avian flu, India may have to study the option of large-scale production of the vaccine after identifying the influenza strain.

“Vaccines are no real safeguards as has been found in Vietnam and Indonesia. We are nonetheless keeping the options open. China and France are among the countries that are preparing vaccines against the H5N1 strain of avian flu,” Bandhopadhyay said.

Animal Husbandry Secretary P.M.A. Hakeem, who was also present, said: “The surveillance, which includes laboratory tests, has shown that India is free from bird flu. Therefore there is absolutely no need to worry on this count.

“Poultry or its products in India are absolutely safe for consumption.”

Global experts fear that avian flu could become a pandemic as the influenza strain H5N1 mutates into a form that can transmit easily from human to human.

WHO has been sounding an alert since 2003 when several cases of avian flu were reported.

Since 2003, around 60 people have died of avian flu in Southeast Asia and about 140 million domestic birds have died or been culled to curb the spread of the virus.

Bandhopadhyay said since 2001, India has been on guard against the possible outbreak of avian flu as thousands of migratory birds visit the country.

Some more laboratories under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) are being beefed up for increased surveillance.

Field staff from other agencies is being trained in the safe method of collecting samples of over 1,000 migratory birds every month for laboratory surveillance.

India receives between five and 20 million migratory birds every year in about 90 wetlands.