Initial reports of bird flu in the Georgian Black Sea region of Ajara have prompted officials in Tbilisi to introduce a nationwide ban on live poultry sales and to impose a state of emergency in the infected area. While officials maintain that the situation is under control, opposition politicians are complaining that the measures taken could undermine the local economy.
Initial tests conducted on a dead swan found on a lake near the village of near the village of Adlia in the Khelvachauri district of Ajara on February 24 revealed the H5N1 virus commonly referred to as the bird flu. Confirmation from an independent lab in London is still pending, however. On February 25, after another dead swan in the same area was found to be carrying the virus, the authorities ordered that all domestic poultry products within a three-kilometer radius of the lake be destroyed and implemented a country-wide ban on the sale of live poultry.
On February 26 the Georgian government stepped-up their efforts to prevent the bird flu from spreading throughout Georgia with a presidential decree imposing a state of emergency in the Khelvachauri district. Parliament endorsed the decree February 28.
"The government is definitely taking the right steps to prevent the spread of the virus in the region," Nino Mamulashvili, head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office Georgia, told EurasiaNet on Tuesday. "They also have a very well-prepared laboratory with good equipment and a well-trained staff, should they experience any human cases."
Under the presidential decree, a ban on hunting wild birds will be enforced and firearms used for hunting will be confiscated from the local population. All live poultry as well as poultry products in the affected area will also be confiscated by the authorities. If deemed necessary, the presidential decree also calls for a restriction on travel by the local population. The decree will be in effect until October 1.
The measures come on the heels of an outbreak of bird flu cases in Azerbaijan and Turkey. In Azerbaijan, the virus, detected in early February, has claimed no human lives. But three Turkish children died in January in a village not far from the border with Armenia.
Opposition parliamentarians have criticized the government's actions, saying the decree doesn't account for the potential economic impact of its provisions. The area in question is near a resort town on the Black Sea and is economically dependent on tourism and the state of emergency will not expire until after Ajara's tourist season is over. Some opposition members have suggested the government pay compensation to residents who are forced to cull their poultry stock in response to the bird flu.
Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze, however, was quick to respond to the criticism. "As we have never experienced this before, the only legal basis for this situation was to announce a state-of-emergency, but I think in the future we should have an appropriate legal basis that will rule out the use of a state-of-emergency," Burjanadze stated in parliament March 1, the online news service Civil.ge.
Other government officials agreed. "For this case [the call for a state-of-emergency] was absolutely the right thing to do," Levan Baramidze, head of the Ministry of Health's Department of Public Health, told EurasiaNet on March 1.
"If we have more cases soon and on a large scale, we will continue to implement a state-of-emergency. Otherwise, if we find more cases in a few weeks, this may not be necessary. But I assure you, we have a national action plan," Baramidze continued
An information campaign started in November 2005, just weeks after the region's first case of bird flu was reported in Turkey, makes up part of this national action plan. Brochures were distributed to doctors around the country that provided basic information about the H5N1 virus and how to handle an outbreak. Roughly 200,000 brochures for the general public were distributed in January and, according to Baramidze, another 300,000 brochures targeting adults, children and families are currently being printed.
The WHO's Nino Mamulashvili notes that an assessment group from the organization in February applauded Georgia's anti-bird flu efforts. "Given the reality of the situation in the health sector, the government is doing a very good job. Really, the only thing missing in their activities is a compensation package [for residents who must destroy their poultry stocks], but discussions about this matter began some time ago," Mamulashvili said.
In response to the outbreak of the virus, Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli has instructed Education Minister Kakha Lomaia to continue special courses in schools about the bird flu virus. The Education Ministry began disseminating related leaflets to schools on February 27.
Meanwhile, government officials maintain that they are fully prepared for any human cases of the virus. "We are, of course, expecting more cases in birds and we are prepared for this. This is the time for migration and we are on two migratory routes, so this cannot be stopped," commented the Ministry of Health's Baramidze. "It is a very stable situation right now and all necessary steps are being taken . . . "I can say that we are on the right path."
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