Bird flu forces Nepal to ban chicken trade in capital

Following the outbreak of 16 bird flu cases in 17 days since July 16 in Kathmandu, the animal health authorities of Nepal on Thursday declared ban on chicken trade in the Nepali capital for one week. The authorities said the step was necessary to prevent further spread of the H5N1 virus so as to ensure that it does not ultimately affect the people. Under the ban announced as per Animal Health and Livestock Services Act 1999, chickens cannot be supplied and sold in all three districts of the capital valley, including Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and Kathmandu. "We expect to control bird flu within one week. If it does not happen, the ban may be extended further," said Bolraj Acharya, Chief of the Department of Livestock Services. "We will try our best to bring the disease under control. The ban is for the same purpose," said Jay Mukund Khanal, Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture. The ban will be effective until August 7 and authorities have plans to cull all the affected chickens by this period. Last year, the authorities culled 131,632 chickens and destroyed 378,350 eggs and 7,515 kg of feed across the country. In the past two weeks, in Kathmandu alone, authorities culled 31,194 chickens and destroyed 28,172 eggs and 7,715 kg of feed. Apart from the 16 cases reported alone in the capital, 50 more cases have been reported in different parts of the country in the past two weeks since the beginning of the new fiscal year 2013/14 on July 16. Bird flu was first reported in Nepal in January 2009 in Jhapa of eastern Terai plains. Since then, its recurrence has been reported time and again.