Having recorded two separate outbreaks of bird flu over the past two years, India has now formulated a full-fledged action plan to combat an avian influenza pandemic, when and if it comes.
According to authorities, non-pharmaceutical interventions will be vital in curtailing spread of the disease. India plans to target locations where transmission of the mutated H5N1 virus will occur. Schools and market places will be shut down and people restrained from visiting religious places or large public gatherings.
Symptomatic individuals, along with their family members, will be quarantined to combat possible chains of transmission. The department of animal husbandry has already trained 50% of its 70,000 strong veterinary population in handling poultry during such an emergency. Surveillance has already been stepped up and unusual mortality of birds is being reported weekly. Hundreds of animal samples are being sent to HSADL, Bhopal, for H5N1 testing every week.
Bio Safety Level (BSL)-III labs, one each in Jalandhar, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune and the North-East, to test animal samples for H5N1 virus are being set up. Labs are being set up to test human samples of which the ones in Delhi and Kolkata are almost ready while the third in Dibrugarh is coming up.
The National Institute of Communicable Disease's BSL-III lab has also started functioning. Over 12,000 doctors have been trained to recognize symptoms. The health ministry will also conduct table-top exercises, simulations and mock drills in the country from next month.
Officials said: "We have learnt that training doctors once is not enough. In the district, the posting of doctors changes frequently. We have already conducted six workshops in all four zones. During the Manipur outbreak, we flew doctors from all seven north-eastern states to give them hands on experience."
The ministry has stockpiled 10 lakh courses of Tamiflu with a shelf life of five years. WHO has also stockpiled Tamiflu and has three million courses. These will be used specifically for rapid containment at the beginning of a pandemic.
In addition, the animal husbandry department has tied up with a company dealing in animal health products to bank 40 million doses of poultry vaccine which will be picked up only if the country ever decides to vaccinate its poultry. Estimates predict that around 20% of the total world population will fall ill during the next influenza pandemic and 28 million may need hospital care.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/India_comes_up_with_action_plan...