Located as it is between two nations with a long history of outbreaks of H5N1 (India and China), and separated by but a few kilometers from Bangladesh – another bird flu hotspot – it isn’t surprising that bird flu continues to show up in Nepal.
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Over the past couple of days Crof has carried reports on a number of outbreaks of H5N1 in Nepal (see Nepal: Kathmandu reports 12 H5N1 outbreaks in 13 days & Nepal: H5N1 outbreak in Bhaktapur poultry).
Although not as well known for bird flu as Indonesia, Egypt, or Bangladesh, H5N1 has been showing up with some regularity in Nepal since it was first detected in January of 2009 (see Nepal: Concerns Rise Over More Poultry Deaths).
In year’s past, outbreaks have occurred in Nepal primarily during the winter months. What is a bit unusual is the timing of this year’s activity, which has seen outbreaks continuing well into the summer (see OIE Follow up Report #9).
Worldwide the pattern with the H5N1 virus has been that it declines during the warmer summer months, only to increase when cooler weather returns with the fall and winter.
This pattern is easily seen in the FAO chart below:
Of course, outbreaks don’t stop completely during the summer months, particularly in countries where the H5N1 virus is extremely well-entrenched (e.g. Indonesia, Egypt).
But there is clearly a seasonal pattern.
When an outbreak does occur, the procedure is to quarantine the affected farm and set up an exclusion zone around it from which poultry may not be sold or transported until the outbreak is contained.
Infected and exposed birds are culled, while birds in the exclusion zone are tested and monitored for at least 21 days.
At least, that’s how things are supposed to work.
The reality is that farmers will sometime elect not to report outbreaks immediately in hopes it will burn itself out - or worse - will attempt to sell off or transport exposed birds before they can fall ill, in order to avoid a major financial loss.
Which is what allegedly has recently happened in Nepal, according to this report from the Himalayan Times.
According to this report, not only were two farm outbreaks hidden from authorities, infected birds were supposedly sold to local shops.
Chickens taken for sale from bird flu detected farm seized
Added At: 2013-07-29 3:30 PM
BHAKTAPUR: Police have seized live chickens being transported to Bhairahawa from a bird flu detected poultry farm in Bhaktapur.
The Ganga Jamuna Poultry Farm based in Katunje-2 in Bhaktapur was caught red-handed while transporting 450 live chickens to Bhairahawa.
According to District Livestock Service Office Bhaktapur, acting on a tip-off, chickens were seized from Sundarighat of Lalitpur. The confiscated chickens were buried in a ditch near Sundarighat, District Livestock Service Office Lalitpur chief Dr Mugal Prasad Saha said.
These types of stories are not unusual; we've seen similar reports over the years from China, Vietnam, Egypt, Nigeria and Indonesia.
Not unexpectedly, these types of actions can lead to a wider spread of the virus, endangering not only the local poultry industry, but the lives of people who come in contact with these infected birds.
For now, H5N1 remains primarily a threat to poultry. The virus remains poorly adapted to human physiology, and despite ample opportunities to cause illness in humans, the virus only causes rare, sporadic infections.
The concern, of course, is that over time the virus will adapt further and pose a pandemic threat to humans.
