When the doctors asked what made him think that he might be suffering from bird flu, he said he was suffering from common cold and his throat ached as well. Doctors asked him whether he was a poultry farmer or was exposed to chickens at cold store. The man said he was neither a poultry farmer nor did he work at a meat shop, but that he had eaten chicken the previous night at a restaurant. [break]
"We checked his pressure and temperature. Everything was normal. We advised him not to worry and told him that there was no risk in eating cooked chicken," said Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, a virologist at the hospital. He said that every day about half a dozen such patients visit hospital seeking treatment for avian influenza. The hospital said such people mostly come from the flu hit areas in Bhaktapur, Kavre, Makwanpur, Lalitpur and some parts of Kathmandu.
"There is too much anxiety about the disease," said Dr Pun. He said that people who consume chicken or eggs also come to hospital to consult about the possible infection.
Doctors counsel and send the patients home as they said that a lot of patients do not show any signs of infection. "When they insist on check-up, we send them to the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL)," said Rajesh Shah, a doctor at the hospital. NPHL is the only lab in the country with a facility for testing bird flu.
He said bird flu patients suffer from high fever, severe pain in the muscle, throat swell and difficulty in breathing.
NPHL officials said that every day about 30 such patients have been visiting the laboratory since the last one month. "We have conducted tests on over 500 people but we have not found a single case of human infection," Bishnu Prasad Upadhya, a microbiologist at the NPHL, said. He said that the laboratory conducts tests only on those people who show symptoms of bird flu infected people.
All hospitals in the capital send patients to the NPHL when they suspect bird flu infection in any patient. Upadhya said that people should not worry about normal fever, common cold and throat problems as season is changing. He, however, cautioned the people to be conscious about the possible infection of the disease. "People who remain in close contact of chickens, work in poultry farms and cold stores are most vulnerable to the disease, so they should apply precautionary measures," he added.
Though some people think bird flu virus is transmitted through air but experts say that it is only transmitted through direct contact of infected chickens and its droppings. He said that eating cooked chicken is safe but asked the people to be careful while handling the chicken before it is cooked.
Meanwhile, the District Public Health office (DPHO), Kathmandu said that health workers in the flu hit areas have accelerated health checkups of the public.
Valley wide culling to complete in couple of days
Authority at the District Veterinary Office (DVO), Kathmandu said that it would complete the ongoing chicken culling operation within the next couple of days. Officials said that they have completed disinfection drive at Thankot-Dahachowk area and will complete the operation in Kritipur and Gothatar area in the next two days. The Directorate of Animal Health (DoAH) has imposed bird flu emergency in Thankot, Kritipur and Gothatar of Kathmandu and in Bhaktapur district.
"It is taking longer in some areas due to objections from locals," Bola Raj Acharya, chief of District Veterinary Office (DVO), Kathmandu, said. He said that some poultry farmers are unhappy with the compensation offered, while locals of some areas barred them from dumping chickens in their localities.
Bhaktapur DVO said that it will complete culling operations in the district within next two days.
The office said that it has been facing difficulties to kill chickens at local levels. "Some people have kept chickens for sacrificial killings," said Dr Pradeep Chandra Bhattarai, an official at DoAH, adding, "It takes whole day to convince them that such birds need to be disposed of."
Clinical research unit established
KATHMANDU, Aug 25
In a bid to study the cause of emerging and reemerging diseases, STIDH, popularly known as Teku hospital, has established a separate clinical research unit at the hospital. Doctors at the hospital said often even they do not know the cause of many ailments and treat patients based on hypothesis.
"We have established the separate research unit for the proper treatment of ailments," Dr Pun, the virologist, said. He said that doctors often start treatments on the basis of symptoms but they do not know exact cause of the ailments.
He said that the newly established research unit will conduct thorough investigation of the diseases and suggest proper medication. Dr Pun said that the unit will also facilitate students and the health professionals to conduct study. He said that the research will also help health officials to formulate policies regarding disease control.
The hospital aims to develop the unit as Institute of Tropical Medicine in the long run.
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