Suspected bird flu patient refused isolation ward seat at hospital
http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=headline&newsid=38791&typeid=1
Jinendra Maibam
IMPHAL, Jul 29: Even as the state veterinary and animal husbandry department intensified bird culling operations today, one of the workers at the Chingmeirong poultry farm where the bird flu outbreak took place has fallen ill.
Doctors at both JN and RIMS hospitals, where the 40-year worker, an elder brother of the poultry farm owner, was successively admitted last night, were unconvinced that he was suffering from avian influenza, and in fact declined to admit him to the isolation wards being maintained at both hospitals.
Family members however remain apprehensive. S Irananda, the farm owner, said his brother appear to be suffering from all the symptoms of bird flu which were publicized in the media.
Irananda said his brother developed fever yesterday and was admitted to JN hospital at around 4 pm. Doctors at the JN hospital casualty department advised he should be admitted in the general ward for observation. Though the family insisted that he should be admitted in the isolation ward for investigation and observation, the doctors declined and discharged his brother at around 5:30 pm.
Subsequently, after his fever worsened, he was taken again to JN hospital. The family`s request for admitting him in the isolation ward was again denied, Irananda said.
The medical superintendent, JN hospital, Dr Motilal, himself denied that his brother was suffering from bird flu, and told the family that not a single case has been found of human beings being affected by bird flu in India, Irananda said.
Thereafter, the family took the patient to RIMS hospital, where he was admitted in the isolation ward at around 10:00 pm. However, after just half an hour, doctors informed that he should be shifted to the casualty ward.
Unwilling to accept the doctors` decision, the family finally took his brother home, Irananda said.
The patient is curently listed in the RIMS registers as `left against medical advice`.
According to Irananda, his brother was regularly engaged in feeding and taking care of the livestock at their farm. Health department employees have already taken his brother`s blood samples and sent for testing, but the results were not yet available, he said.
He added that health department employees have been administering Tamiflu tablets to 21 people living at the poultry farm and its immediate neighbourhood since July 17, but after July 25, they stopped supplying the tablet.
Irananda also said that though the outbreak which occurred at his farm was confirmed as bird flu on July 25, it was only on July 27, that culling of remaining birds at the farm took place.
Irananda also informed that some of the chickens that died at his Chingmeirong farm had been brought from another farm run by him at Khonghampat, and it was two or three days after they were brought that the mass deaths took place. This has already been informed to the veterinary people, he said.
In the meantime, massive culling of birds in both areas of Imphal west and Imphal East were taken up by rapid reaction teams of the department, covering wide areas of both Imphal districts.
35,000 birds including chickens and ducks were culled by the 34 RRTs deployed today at 30 separate localities in the greater Imphal areas.
The intensified bird cullingt operations were supervised by the central team led by AB. Negi, joint commissioner, department of veterinary and animal Husbandry, dairying and fisheries, Union ministry of agriculture, who have been camping in the state since the middle of the month.
The RRTs covered extensive areas of Laipham Khunou, Paomei colony, Kairang Muslim, Lei Inkhol, Top Dusera, Khurai, Soibam Leikai, Telepati, Moirangkampu, Wangkhei Khunou and Khuma Lampak areas in Imphal East district, and other RRTs also covered the areas of Uripok Assembly constituency, Sagolband Constituency, Thangmeiband, Eroisemba, Keshamthong A/C, in Imphal West district.
Culling of birds in these areas were conducted on random basis without prior information in a bid to prevent transportation of poultry stocks by the local farm owners beyong the five kilometre radius zone.
In the meantime, 15 staffers of the Central Poultry Farm at Mantripukhri run by the state veterinary department, have been kept in quarantine inside the farm since the chickens whose blood sample were found positive for avian influenza were bought from the Central Poultry Farm.
The employees are being kept in quarantine by the state health departmet for medical observation and are not allowed to leave the farm nor are outsiders allowed to enter to the farm, said an official of the veterinary department.
Health directorate sources, confirming this, said there were no symptoms of bird flu among the employees but they are still being kept for the further examination.
The sources added that most areas within the 5 Kms radius zone have been covered in the course of house to house surveillance since last fours days by health department teams, but so far not a single indication of humans suffering from bird flu symptoms have been found. Their surveillance will continue for the next few days.
Meanwhile, several veterinary officials from other North Eastern states have reached Manipur to assist the efforts to contain bird flu. Among them, K.C. Bhutia joint secretary, in the government of Sikkim has arrived in Imphal today while four officials of Meghalaya veterinary department are also due to reach the state capital.
