The government is putting plans in place to start a national inspection of Jamaica’s poultry population – specifically poultry farms that produce chicken for consumption – to determine whether the Avian influenza virus or bird flu is here.

“We hope to start soon and we are in discussions as to how to go about it,” said senior veterinary officer at the Ministry of Agriculture, Cedric Lazarus, yesterday. “We are seeking funding from international agencies as well as local companies, especially those involved in the poultry industry because it will cost millions to do the national surveillance.”

He explained that the venture would be a collaborative effort between the health and agriculture ministries as well as the University of the West Indies (UWI).

“UWI would help us to culture or grow the virus if we found any positive samples. When you culture the virus you can identify what strain of the virus it is and where to go from there,” Lazarus explained.

According to policy and programme director of veterinary public health in the health ministry, Dr Linnette Peters, negotiations are also underway to acquire the testing kits and other needed supplies.

“Ideally, how it would work is that broiler or layer birds will be bled and the samples sent to the veterinary labs (at the agriculture ministry) where a quick test method will be used to see if there is the presence of Avian influenza virus or bird flu,” she said. “If any of the tests are positive from this method, then the samples will be sent to the University of the West Indies microbiology lab for culture.”

Both Peters and Lazarus explained that the quick test would only be able to identify the Avian virus but not the particular strain of the disease.

“Our screening would say, yes it’s the Avian virus but culturing would identify the specific strain. There are 15 of the H type, so then we could know if it’s the one that is giving problems in Asia,” Lazarus said.

Avian influenza is an infectious disease of birds caused by strains of the influenza virus. The H5 virus is the strain that has been causing a health scare in Asia and has resulted in millions of dollars of losses in the poultry industry there.

According to Peters, if any positive tests for the bird flu were to be found locally, then an emergency plan would be implemented.

“If it turns positive, then the Emergency Animal Disease plan would be activated,” she explained. “So the farm where it is found would be quarantined and also farms within a certain radius would be checked. The animals would be slaughtered so that there can be eradication and containment of the virus.”

Peters was speaking with the Observer after presenting a report on a study of backyard poultry operations in three communities in St Thomas. Her presentation was made at a workshop on backyard poultry operations at the Springfield community centre in Morant Bay.

Lazarus, who was also at the workshop, said he hoped that Jamaica would not get to the quarantine stage.

“Hopefully, no positive samples will be found,” he said, while urging poultry farmers to take precautionary measures.

“Commerce farmers can ensure that there are no openings in their bird houses where wild birds can get in, because the virus is spread by migratory wild birds who pass through Jamaica maybe twice per year.”

She added: “They can also have bio-safety measures, such as having foot baths at the entrance of the birdhouses, wearing sanitary clothing so that the clothes you wear in the birdhouse you don’t wear it on the streets. Some of these measures will reduce the likelihood of spreading the disease.”