An outbreak of the H5N1 virus in India in 2006 negatively affected the people living in the area, as the poultry industry was their main source of income at the time. Soon after many birds were reported dead in the village of Navapur, in the Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, the government intervened, first confirming the presence of the bird flu and then destroying numerous birds to control the spread of the virus. Residents felt the government overreacted, believing the government had wrongly attributed the reason for the bird deaths; had unnecessarily disrupted their main source of income; and did not compensate them properly for the government's destruction of the birds. Residents also believed that the media caused unnecessary panic over the incident. The government denied any over-reaction to the flu outbreak and stated that they had enough

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vaccine to protect the Indian population.

Initial reaction

The first reports of bird flu in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

came from the village of Navapur in the Nandurbar district of Maharashtra on 19 February 2006. Villagers reported many bird deaths in the village. Maharashtra State Animal Husbandry Ministry authorities rushed to the spot. Lab analysis proved that the poultry was indeed affected with the

H5N1 Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 (A/H5N1) is a subtype of the influenza A virus which can cause illness in humans and many other animal species. A bird-adapted strain of H5N1, called HPAI A(H5N1) for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus of type ...

virus.

Government response

Soon after the presence of the virus was confirmed culling operations began. 253,000 birds and 587,000 eggs were destroyed within five days. Villagers who were exhibiting flu-like symptoms were quarantined and kept under observation. Blood samples from 150 persons were sent to the

National Institute of Virology The National Institute of Virology in Pune, India is an Indian virology research institute and part of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). It was previously known as 'Virus Research Centre' and was founded in collaboration with the ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

, for analysis. Movement of people into the area was strictly regulated and passenger trains were instructed not to halt at

Navapur Navapur is a '' nagar panchayat'' (municipality) and headquarters for Navapur Taluka in Nandurbar district, in the state of Maharashtra, India. Geography Navapur municipality is situated on the border with the state of Gujarat. It is appro ...

. Governments of states which border Maharashtra banned the import of poultry from the latter. Some other state governments such as those of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

and Jammu and Kashmir also introduced similar restrictions. The

government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

asked pharmaceutical companies such as

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to manufacture anti-flu medication. The Government also started stockpiling

. The

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

was set on alert to aid in evacuation operations and drug-distribution measures.

Grievances of locals

The

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, ...

industry is the main source of income for the people of Nawapur who claimed the Government is overreacting. According to them, the cause of the bird deaths was in fact the seasonal

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disease and not bird-flu. They alleged that the compensation guaranteed to them by the government after culling had not been handed to them. They also said the media created an unnecessary clamour over the incident.

Economic impact

Prices of chicken products across India plummeted resulting in a steep rise in the prices of

mutton Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries''. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. The meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. Older sheep meat is mutton. Gen ...

and fish. The poultry industry was expected to lose hundreds of millions of rupees because of this. Airlines including

Air India Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the ...

Jet Airways Jet Airways (India) Ltd is an Indian airline based in Delhi NCR, with a training and developmental center in Mumbai. Incorporated in April 1992 as a limited liability company, the airline began operations as an air taxi operator in 1993. It b ...

Indian Airlines Indian Airlines was a division of Air India Limited. It was based in Delhi and focused primarily on domestic routes, along with several international services to neighbouring countries in Asia. It was a division of Air India Limited after m ...

and

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took chicken off their in-flight menus.

Official response

Both the state and central governments denied any overreaction. The centre said it had enough supplies of

and that there was no cause for worry.

References