‘No bird flu case reported around
12 labs monitoring results

ISLAMABAD—Twelve surveillance laboratories equipped to diagnose bird flu are working in different poultry concentrated areas in the country and no case of bird flu has been found, official sources said on Thursday.
Talking to APP, the sources said the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock in collaboration with the provincial governments and private sector was constantly monitoring the situation on day-to-day basis.
He said, “Our monitoring policy has stressed on clinical surveillance in the poultry concentration areas, serological and virological surveillance from the suspected or even healthy poultry from the industrial as well as rural poultry sectors and surveillance (serological and virological) in migratory birds from different parts of the country”.
A central laboratory at National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), Islamabad has been especially developed to address Avian Influenza surveillance and its monitoring.
So far we have analyzed more than 16,999 samples from poultry and more than 700 samples from migratory birds and have found no evidence of Bird Flu (AL-H5NI) during the last one year in the country, sources added.
MINFAL has also recently sanctioned a Rs. 40 million project to strengthen the surveillance and emergency preparedness.
It may be mentioned that Avian Influenza (H7N3) had hit Pakistan in 2003-04 which was effectively controlled by culling affected flocks, regular vaccination and improving bio-security measures.—APP