Poultry farms registration campaign launched
A country-wide campaign for the registration of poultry farms has been launched with an aim to provide maximum security against birds flu outbreak. Animal Husbandry Commissioner Dr R.H. Usmani said that according to an estimate there were about 25,800 poultry farms producing large scale as well as small scale poultry products like meat, eggs and poultry breeding. He said that the campaign was initiated in all four provinces including AJK which will collect data about the status of all farms existing at district level and he added that work on the project has been initiated from Peshawar. Dr Usmani informed that a number of Rapid Response Teams consisting three doctors with highly trained, fully equipped staffers were also increased from 18 to 23 to control any outbreak of bird flu around the country. He said that these teams will also provide proper education to farmers about safety and security measures including vaccination of birds and adoption of safety measures for workers, working inside the farms. Animal Husbandry Commissioner said this campaign will help the ministry to provide proper compensation to affect farmers registered during current practice. All those farms who failed to register itself during the campaign would not get any compensation in case of any outbreak. Copyright Associated Press of Pakistan, 2008