Is it really bird flu?

Vaishali Balajiwale/Agencies

NASHIK/NEW DELHI: The government's announcement of bird flu deaths in Maharashtra has created an unnecessary panic and how the virus arrived in a remote place like Nandurbar needs "detailed investigations", including the possibility of deliberate introduction, said a leading virologist.

Meanwhile, health ministry officials investigating the episode said that Newcastle virus ---- that causes similar symptoms like bird flu ---- has also been isolated from the dead birds lending credence to the poultry industry claims that the deaths were not entirely due to bird flu.

"I am worried and surprised about the whole thing," says Kalyan Banerjee, former director of the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune.

Transmission of flu from birds to humans is very difficult and the fears have been over blown, Banerjee said. The 90-odd persons in some 30 countries who have so far died of this virus were bird handlers and no single human-to-human transmission has taken place.

The commercial angle to the whole bird flu business "should be looked at very carefully," says Banerjee.

India, which was saying for three years that there was no bird flu in the country, had two months ago purchased two million doses of a bird flu vaccine (based on Hong Kong strain) manufactured by a Dutch company. India has also placed orders for the drug Tamiflu from the multinational company Roche, while three Indian companies have announced that they will be soon ready with generic version of Tamiflu. "And suddenly more than 30,000 poultry birds die of bird flu in a remote place," says Banerjee.

Banerjee says he is mystified by the fact that the virus showed up in a remote place that is not an international border or on the path of migratory birds that could possibly bring the virus. "This needs detailed investigations," he said. Asked if the virus could have been introduced deliberately he said "all aspects" must be investigated.

"We maintain that the disease among the birds in Navapur is not bird flu," reiterated Anuradha Desai, chairman, Venketeshwara Hatcheries, Pune. She said that 1000 samples were collected and screened at the Poultry Diagnostic Research Centre, Pune. The Disease Investigation Centre of Maharashtra confirmed that this is not bird flu, but Ranikhet Disease (RD), seen commonly among poultry birds.