Bird Flu Outbreak Nears Control in Nepal

Kathmandu. The bird flu disease that has appeared in Nepal for the past few months is now nearing control. Senior veterinarian of the Department of Animal Services, Dr. Mukul Upadhyay, informed that no new infected cases of bird flu have been confirmed in any part of the country since the beginning of the current fiscal year, July 17. He said that although suspicious samples are being brought to the laboratory from various areas for testing, all their results are coming back negative, indicating that the infection is under control. Bird flu had spread in 11 districts This outbreak was confirmed on March 18 through a PCR test conducted at the Central Veterinary Disease Investigation Laboratory. Subsequently, the government declared bird flu affected areas on March 20 and initiated control measures. This disease, first confirmed in Sundarharaincha Municipality-4 and Urlabari Municipality-8 in Morang, gradually spread to 11 districts: Sunsari, Jhapa, Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Bara, Mahottari, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, and Kavrepalanchok. Poultry such as commercial layers, parents, broilers, local chickens, ducks, turkeys, and pheasants were most affected by the infection. As of August 16, the disease was completely under control in 7 districts outside the Kathmandu Valley. A total of 119 locations in the Kathmandu Valley and Kavre district had confirmed infections, of which 32 were in Kathmandu, 15 in Lalitpur (including the Central Zoo), 45 in Bhaktapur, and 27 in Kavrepalanchok. Among the three districts in the valley, Bhaktapur appeared to be the most affected, while no new infections have been seen in Lalitpur since June 29. No new infections have been seen in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur since August 16, according to the Department of Animal Services. What was the damage? To control the epidemic, a total of 835,563 poultry, 1,165,663 eggs, and 245,035 kg of feed were destroyed nationwide. Of these, 367,835 poultry were destroyed in the Kathmandu Valley and Kavre alone, according to department data. To provide relief to farmers who suffered losses from the epidemic, the government had managed a total of 520 million rupees by reallocating 500 million rupees from the budget. Of this, 500.7115 million rupees have been provided to the accounts of 104 affected farmers and farms so far.