The government has extended National Program for the Control and Prevention of Avian Influenza (NPCPAI) to Fata for effective surveillance, prevention and strengthening of diagnostic capabilities for prevention of the deadly virus (H5N1), an official said on Wednesday.
"Work on the gigantic project has already been started in Fata and focus are being made on surveillance and reporting problems of Avian Influenza, handling of the disease's outbreaks, research and development and compensation for force culling of influenza's infected poultry," Dr Saadullah Jan, Director Livestock and Dairy Development Fata told APP.
NPCPAI is an umbrella project being implemented through Ministry Minfal in the four provinces, Northern Areas, AJK and Fata for control and prevention of Avian Influenza (AI) commonly known as Bird Flue.
Under the ambitious programme, he said as many as Rs 3.881million would be spent on the Avian Influenza (AI) activities up to June 2008 in Fata. The five-year project will be supervised and co-ordinated at the national level by Animal Husbandry Commissioner of Livestock Wing of Minfal as National Project Co-ordinator (NPC), he added.
The project activities, Dr Jan said would be carried out through Fata Surveillance Officer (SO) and Regional Surveillance Officer (RSO) in their respective units to ensure quality control evaluation of AI vaccines. "We are going to set up a surveillance unit in Fata to be comprised of SO and RSO Fata to look after the AI's activities to prevent the communicable disease, which has no boundary, geography and border," Dr Saadullah Jan said.
Under the project, he said, a total of 4,000 blood and cloacal discharge samples from commercial and backyard poultry farms are being collected from across Fata whereas the screening of these samples will be carried out at provincial surveillance units.
"In case the samples founds positive, it will then be sent to National Veterinary Laboratory (NAL), Islamabad for further investigation," he said when asked. Likewise, he said that 4000 blood samples from commercial and backyard poultry are being collected and would be sent to NAL for confirmation.
"Special attention is being given on training of technical staff, farmers and persons involved with poultry keeping besides launching awareness programs at provincial level and Regional Surveillance Units." Under the strategy, he said all the birds of the flock from where H5N1 virus confirmed will be culled to protect the handlers and further spread to birds and subsequently to human beings.
Likewise, Dr Jan said ring vaccination would be carried out within a radius of three kilometres in the reported affected areas, saying the vaccination would be stored in the AI vaccine bank at surveillance units.
The department had taken strict precautionary measures to prevent any possible outbreak of bird flu in Fata, he added. To dispel fears of eating chicken, he said even an infected chicken properly cooked on 70 degree centigrade, which is normally done in Pakistan, can be consumable without any fear.