An imminent threat of the outbreak of bird flu looms large in Nepal, following the confirmation by the authorities in the northern Indian state of West Bengal on Wednesday that it had witnessed the worst ever outbreak of H5N1 strain of avian flu over a week ago. The virulent virus, according to WHO, has already taken a toll of 219 lives worldwide since the first outbreak of the flu in 2003. Though the virus, despite its outbreak earlier twice in India, has not claimed lives, the state government’s admission that it has fallen behind in its battle against bird flu is a deadly warning that can hardly be ignored.

As Nepal shares an open border with India, there is every likelihood that the virus will make inroads into Nepal. The government, in order to strengthen the ongoing surveillance of bird flu, has dispatched a three member team to eastern Nepal, which is supposed to supervise whether instructions given by Avian Influenza Control Project have been properly implemented. However, that might not be enough. People run the risk of catching bird flu by coming into direct contact with the infected poultry. To avoid the risk, proper isolation procedure needs to be followed. This includes, most importantly, a strict ban on the inflow of poultry products — which are imported in large quantities from India — until the threat of the pandemic goes away.