KARACHI, Feb 23: As test results confirmed the presence of the dreaded Avian Influenza (AI) virus in a Malir farm on Saturday evening — the third outbreak in Karachi since Jan 1 — government officials are reportedly sitting passive as poultry farmers claimed that around 4,500 birds, whose health status was earlier doubted, were killed in the small hours of Saturday at a Malir farm.

Sources privy to what is maintained as “voluntary culling” said that developments at the farm were a major shift from the approved AI protocol.

The Sindh government Director Poultry, Dr Ali Akbar Soomro, said that it was good that birds had been killed voluntarily as there were chances of the dreaded virus spreading. “I was told in the evening from Islamabad that the samples sent there related to the suspected farm had been found positive for AI (H5N1).”

He said that though none of the Sindh government officials were present at the time of culling, he could say that it was all done as per established practice and workers also adopted preventive measures during the operation.

Interviews of officials in the livestock and health departments of the provincial government and poultry officials of the city district government revealed that till 6pm on Saturday, no one knew how the birds, which were largely believed to be infected with the dreaded AI virus, were killed and disposed of.

A spokesperson for the Pakistan Poultry Association, Maroof Siddiqui, maintained that the association convinced the owners of the Mashaallah Poultry Farm, located in the Dumlotee vicinity of Gadap Town, to destroy the leftover birds as a precautionary measure and not to wait for the Islamabad laboratory reports on AI.

Talking to Dawn at around 5.30pm, he said that he was not personally at the farm at the time of the culling of birds, but he had the information that about 4,500 birds had been slaughtered alone by the farm owner after midnight on Saturday; the birds were later dumped in a well in the farm’s limits. “The government officials had also been informed about the development and were fulfilling the remaining protocol applicable in case of occurrence of AI in birds,” he said.

According to experts, the protocol calls for culling in and around the infected farm or area only after the presence of the H5N1 AI or bird flu virus is established. It also requires that birds are buried scientifically in a pit on the farm; later, the place should be disinfected, sprayed and sealed officially, in addition to declaring the place a ‘no-go’ area for some time so that the area is not only isolated but the necessary spray exercise is undertaken by the poultry staff concerned repeatedly and inspected for the resumption of farming.

A CDGK staffer, on the condition of anonymity, said that the staff concerned had officially not been informed about the complaint of the spread of any diseases and culling activities. “Neither has any spray of medicines been carried out by us nor could any warning board be fixed by the staffers till 7pm,” he added, saying that nothing could be ascertained by that time about the time of the culling and number of birds destroyed and mechanism employed for the deaths and burial as city government staffers were not present at the site.

When contacted around 7pm, the District Officer Poultry, Asadullah Shah Bukhari, said that though he had contacted the farm owner repeatedly, he was unable to reach the site during the day.

In reply to another question, he said that almost all the officers concerned were attending a seminar on bird flu organised by the provincial livestock department for EDOs and others concerned from across the province and it was the director poultry of the Sindh government who broke the news about the culling during the seminar, maintaining that he and another senior official of the provincial department were present at the time of culling.

“Technically, the CDGK’s poultry officers are supposed to act on behalf of the DCOs in case of diseases, including AI, and cull the birds in case they are declared AI infected,” he said.

Dr Ahmad Ali Memon, Medical Officer of a Sindh government hospital in Gadap, said that he had visited the difficult-to-reach poultry farm, located near the Malir River, around 7.30pm on Saturday and talked to a Mr Farrukh, who identified himself as the owner of the farm, and gathered from him that the culling of 2,600 birds was initiated around 9pm on Friday night and took a few hours to complete.

“I have been told that they had used certain chemicals in plastic bags containing the birds, which had finally been thrown in an old well, which is now covered. In all, three persons were involved in the culling process, out of which only one, Mohammad Kamal, aged 22, was available for a medical examination,” he added, saying that the person was in good health and had been asked not to move in public and stay at the farm till further advice.