Panaji: Goa’s ban on poultry coming in from Karnataka may be due for a review shortly with the animal husbandry department planning to write to the Pune-based Western Region Disease Diagnostic Laboratory on the need for it.The ban was imposed after the WDDL cautioned the department against importing poultry from Karnataka due to bird flu cases reported in that state.

“We are writing to the WDDL on the bird flu situation, and to know whether the cautionary notice is still applicable,” said a reliable source.

North Goa collector Nila Mohanan said the ban has been imposed for a period of two months but it could be relaxed earlier depending on advice from the animal husbandry department.The ban is being enforced completely with strict checking at the three entry points from Karnataka. No poultry from Karnataka is finding its way into Goa, she said.

On July 21, both North Goa and South Goa collectors issued a two-month ban on transportation of the fowl – adults and chicks – from Karnataka to avoid outbreak of bird flu (avian influenza) after the WDDL confirmed cases in a farm in Bidar.

Officials from the animal husbandry department said the ban is a preventive measure to avoid the extreme measure of culling birds in case the epidemic breaks out in Goa.

However, vendors of poultry meat said the scare is needless as the disease was detected in a small farm in Bidar after which authorities quarantined the area. Hyderabad, which is closest to Bidar, continues to import the fowls from Karnataka.

The bird flu case was detected on May 9, and the call for the ban came late, he said.Goa’s consumption of chicken is estimated to be around 10 tonne per day and only 20 per cent comes from within the state. Karnataka supplies 30 per cent of the requirement and Maharashtra about 50 per cent.

Currently the entire requirement is being imported from Maharashtra. However, there is no shortage in the market, said retailers.Chicken availability continues as before and prices range between Rs 160- Rs 170 per broiler.The animal husbandry department has estimated the state’s poultry population at around 2,80,000 fowls of which 1,30,000 is from backyard farms and 1,50,000 from organized farming.
There are some four large poultry farms in the state, said department sources.