Indiana gears up to deal worst of bird flu

Indiana state officials want to leave nothing to chance regarding the recent outbreak of virulent bird flu.

State officials are gearing up to deal with a wider outbreak of bird flu, though Federal health experts hope that the avian flu outbreak has reached its peak and would taper off as the weather warms.

The virulent avian flu that hit in the early May devastated the Midwestern poultry farms.

In early May when the flock tested positive, Indiana's State Board of Animal Health banned all bird shows at county fair scheduled for the summer. Similar moves were also followed in Iowa, Pennsylvania and Minnesota.

As part of its wider outbreak planning, the board and state agencies provided arrangements of sufficient protective gear for personnel and portable toilets, reported news agencies.

And to well handle the situation, the states officials asked the Department of Correction to start training non-violent inmates (with less offense record) to help with any culls needed.

While over 300 inmates are earmarked for training, the first batch of over 50 inmates were fit-tested for respirators and began training on safe removal of chickens from cages and transfer them to an enclosed cart used to asphyxiate the birds.

The Indiana State Board of Animal Health(ISBAH) spokeswoman, Denise Derrer said the team of low-level offenders also helped in state recovery efforts after tornadoes and floods, and will be used in the event of a wider outbreak. She added that they cannot count on the warm weather killing of this virus.

Even those states that are not hit by the virulent avian flu are gearing up to deal with the worst. Dr Robert Cobb of State veterinarian for Georgia, a leading chicken producer, said, " We are better safe than sorry. All the research I have been able to find is showing that this virus could likely stick around for years."

Meanwhile, the Associated Press on Tuesday reported that the ISBAH has lifted its quarantine and other restrictions on poultry sites. Restriction were imposed on poultry sites of northeastern Indiana county following the detection of bird flu in early May.

The board was quoted as stating that quarantine was lifted on poultry sites within three kilometers of the Whitley County mixed backyard flock where the virus was detected in early May.

Other restrictions on all other poultry sites within 10 kilometers were also lifted on Sunday.

After conducting tests twice for avian virus, all birds on 30 poultry sites within the three-kilometers came back negative.