Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, January 31

As avian influenza, also known as bird flu, continues to ravage the poultry industry in many Asian countries, the government was expolring alternatives other than mass slaughter of poultry to prevent the spread of the disease into the country.

"Though we have not detected any case of bird flu in the country as of now, we have discussed about prospective of undertaking mass slaughter of chickens," said Dr Mahendra Bahadur Bista, director of Epidemiology and Disease Control Division.

As more countries announce plans for the mass slaughter of poultry, World Health Organisation (WHO) continues to stress on the need for personal protection of these workers.

With the confirmed spread of H5N1 infection in poultry in China, WHO is again stressing on the need for access to samples and viruses from all countries currently experiencing H5N1 outbreaks. Up to now, laboratories in the WHO network have analysed viruses from the current outbreaks made available by authorities in Cambodia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Vietnam. Viruses from the outbreaks in Indonesia, Laos, and Thailand are expected to be available for analysis soon. The WHO network laboratories are now working to develop a prototype virus that can be recommended by the world health body WHO for use by companies in the production of a human vaccine effective against H5N1 influenza strains.

Both human and avian viruses are needed to develop the vaccine.

Till date, there have been 11 total confirmed reported cases of Avian Influenza among humans with at least eight deaths in different Asian States.