Lok Sabha Question No. 763 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-02-05
Subject: Control of Bird Flu
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Talari Rangaiah, Sunil Kumar Singh, Imtiaz Jaleel Syed, Sumedhanand Saraswati, Asaduddin Owaisi, Shrirang Appa Barne, Sudheer Gupta, Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik, Ranjeetsingh Naik Nimbalkar, Bidyut Baran Mahato, Shivkumar Chanabasappa Udasi, Balak Nath, Pratima Bhoumik, Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 763 TO BE ANSWERED ON 5 TH FEBRUARY, 2021

## CONTROL OF BIRD FLU

## 763. SHRI TALARI RANGAIAH :

SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH:

SHRI SYED IMTIAZ JALEEL:

SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARASWATI:

SHRI ASADUDDIN OWAISI:

SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU:

SHRI SANJAY SADASHIVRAO MANDLIK:

SHRI RANJEETSINGH HINDURAO NAIK NIMBALKAR:

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

SHRI SHIVAKUMAR C. UDASI:

SHRI BALAK NATH:

MS. PRATIMA BHOUMIK:

SHRI RAM MOHAN NAIDU KINJARAPU:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  taken  cognizance of reports indicating the threat of bird flu outbreak in several parts of the country;
- (b)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  strains detected  so  far  and  the  steps  taken to strengthen the process of lab tests for meat products in the country;
- (c) the total number of human cases of bird flu infection and deaths reported, if any, during the pasttwo months, State/UT - wise;
- (d) the financial and technical assistance provided t o  the  States/UTs  to  control  bird  flu/avian influenza and other zoonotic diseases, State/UT - wise;
- (e) whether any vaccine has been developed or procured by the Government to protect people from bird flu/avian influenza and other zoonotic diseases in the country and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the steps taken to prevent health complications due to increased use of antibiotics in food products?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) &(b) : Yes. The strains detected so far are H5N1, H5N8 and H5. National Institute of Security Animal Disease (NIHSAD), Bhopal is conducting laboratory testing for bird flu in products in the country.

Food Safety  and Standards Authority of  India ( FSSAI) has a network of 190 primary food testing laboratories under Section 43(1) of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 a Referral  Laboratories under Section 43(2) of the Act.  Besides these, there are 18 Sta Testing Laboratories continuing und er Section 98 of the FSS Act 2006. Out of these, almost 165 food laboratories are capable of testing meat and meat products.  2 Referral laborator National  Research  Centre  on  Meat  Hyderabad  and  Central  Institute  of  Fisheries  Technolo Kochi are dedicated for the purpose of testing meat and fish.

(c): Till date there are no laboratory confirmed human cases of avian influenza reporte country.

(d): Department under Assistance to States for Control of Animal Disease (ASCAD) suppleme the efforts of States/UTs Government for prevention, control and containment of animal di including bird flu by providing financial assistance based on the ac tion plan and requirement of the states. The financial assistance provided to the states affected with bird flu is at Annexure .

(e): No vaccine has been developed in India or procured by the Government to protect p from bird flu/avian influenza.

Zoonotic  diseases  for  which  vaccine  has  been  widely  used  and  procured  by  t Government is Rabies, Japanese Encephalitis, Kyasanur Forest Disease.

(f):  25  notified  primary  food  testing  laboratories  and  some  Referral  Laboratories  viz -National Dairy Devel opment Board, Gujarat, CIFT, Kochi, NRC, Meat , Hyderabad, National Food Testing Lab, Kolkata and one  National Reference Laboratory viz. Edward Food Resear and Analysis Centre, Kolkata have facilities for testing of Antibiotic residues.

Annexure Assistance to States for Control of Animal

Fund s Released to Bird Flu Affected States Under Disease (ASCAD)

| Sl. No   | State/UT         |   Rs. in lakh |
|----------|------------------|---------------|
| 1        | Bihar            |          0    |
| 2        | Chhattisgarh     |        486.25 |
| 3        | Gujarat          |          0    |
| 4        | Haryana          |        694.91 |
| 5        | Himachal Pradesh |         64.78 |
| 6        | Kerala           |          0    |
| 7        | Madhya Pradesh   |          0    |
| 8        | Maharashtra      |          0    |
| 9        | Punjab           |          0    |
| 10       | Rajasthan        |       1041.24 |
| 11       | Uttar Pradesh    |       6313.98 |
| 12       | Uttarakhand      |         30.62 |
| 13       | Delhi            |          0    |
| 14       | Jammu & Kashmir  |       1724.58 |
|          | TOTAL            |      10356.4  |