India-Ground zero cooped up in worry

TNN | Oct 31, 2012, 04.57AM IST
An ostrich peeps out of the fencing around theCentral Poultry Development Organization(CPDO) in Hesaraghatta every time it hears humans approaching. 

The lone flightless bird, described by CPDO staff as human friendly, is now apparently longing for human company as most staffers keep try to keep away from it, given the raging bird flu scare in the area. 

The ostrich is a rare survivor of its kind on the 500-acre CPDO campus that has been reduced to a graveyard of domesticated birds. It has not been culled given its healthy status, staff said. Thousands of other turkeys, chickens, emus and ducks on the campus were not as lucky and have been culled already, while a few remaining are only waiting for their turn to be killed. 

The CPDO has even barred most its staff from entering the enclosures where these birds had once been housed. Only those taking part in the culling operations are seen in these pockets and that too in protective suits and masks. On Tuesday, these masked men in astronaut-like suits were seen carrying huge lumps of white plastic like material which were then dumped in four pits. 

"These pits are 20 feet deep, 12 feet long and three feet wide. We shall cover these pits by evening," one masked man told TOI. 

According to the masked men, they have culled almost all flu-hit birds and are in the process of sterilizing the sheds. "Anti virus liquids, mostly containing potassium permanganate, are being sprayed all over the place," they said. 

Meanwhile, two staff members came out of a unit and were seen washing their legs with potassium permanganate. 

To prevent the bird flu virus from spreading, small bowl like concrete ponds have been put up in front of every cage. "All those who enter have to dip their feet in these bowls that are filled with potassium permanganate. Even vehicles have to rinse and wash their tyres in these ponds before moving ahead," an employee said. 

15-day-old flu? 

A CPDO staffer told TOI that the bird flu was first discovered at the campus in mid-October. "Initially, it did not spread to other birds. Before we could realize, it was all over the place," he said. 

No poultry movement 

The deputy commissioner of Bangalore Urban district has banned marketing and movement of all poultry and poultry products to and from the surveillance zone declared in areas within 10 km of the Central Poultry Development Organization (CPDO), Hesaraghatta. The ban will remain in place till November 15. 

About 1.5 lakh poultry birds are said to be housed in hundreds of commercial and private farmsin 63 villages situated in the surveillance zone around Hesaraghatta. 

The surveillance zone has been declared as part of an action plan to prevent the spread of bird flu after an outbreak of avian influenza was announced on CPDO campus last week. 

"Till Tuesday, 19,154 chickens have been culled and disposed of as per the guidelines" said an official release. 
According to the release, 81 chickens, 13,673 ducks and 369 emu birds are yet to be culled and the same would be done at the earliest. Fifty-two sheds of birds too will be sterilized soon, it said. 

Six teams involved in surveillance work have collected 175 samples and sent the same for investigation. No unusual death of birds was noticed in the surveillance zone or in any part of the state on Tuesday. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Ground-zero-cooped-up-in-worry/articleshow/17027722.cms