Steps Taken for Control of Bird FLU

PIB News Update: The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Sh. Ashwini Kumar Choubey has informed that The strains of Bird Flu detected so far are H5N1, H5N8 and H5. National Institute of High Security Animal Disease (NIHSAD), Bhopal is conducting laboratory testing for bird flu in meat products in the country.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has a network of 190 primary food testing laboratories under Section 43(1) of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and 18 Referral Laboratories under Section 43(2) of the Act. Besides these, there are 18 State Food Testing Laboratories continuing under Section 98 of the FSS Act 2006. Out of these, almost 165 food laboratories are capable of testing meat and meat products.  2 Referral laboratories viz.  National Research Centre on Meat Hyderabad and Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Kochi are dedicated for the purpose of testing meat and fish.

25 notified primary food testing laboratories and some Referral Laboratories viz CALF-National Dairy Development Board, Gujarat, CIFT, Kochi, NRC, Meat , Hyderabad, National Food Testing Lab, Kolkata and one  National Reference Laboratory viz. Edward Food Research and Analysis Centre, Kolkata have facilities for testing of Antibiotic residues.

Till date there are no laboratory confirmed human cases of avian influenza reported in the country.

No vaccine has been developed in India or procured by the Government to protect people from bird flu/avian influenza. Zoonotic diseases for which vaccine has been widely used and procured by the Government is Rabies, Japanese Encephalitis, Kyasanur Forest Disease.

Department under Assistance to States for Control of Animal Disease (ASCAD) supplement the efforts of States/UTs Government for prevention, control and containment of animal diseases including bird flu by providing financial assistance based on the action plan and requirement of the states. The financial assistance provided to the states affected with bird flu is given in at table below.

Funds Released to Bird Flu Affected States Under Assistance to States for Control of Animal Disease (ASCAD)