Bird flu scares Indo-Burma border trade

Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)

February 7, 2004

Worried over the spreading of bird flu, the Indian Health Ministry has restricted the import of chicken and other red meat into the northeast India.

Manipur and Mizoram states import chicken and other meat to meet the demand of the local people. Moreover, Burmese chickens are comparatively cheaper than local poultry.

“We have already sealed the Indo-Burma border and the people, particularly villagers living along the international border, not to import any chicken or other animal meat to the state”, a health department spokesman of Mizoram told Mizzima today. He further said that traders generally import one to three quintal (one quintal=130 kilogram) of animal meat from Burma a day. However, the department has already started surveillance of the meat trade along the international border for Burmese meat imports.

Asked if these restrictions would affect local trade, a trader from Aizawl, capital of Mizoram State, replied that meat trading with Burma had already been affected by fear of the spreading of Bird Flu. “This is a serious matter and hence we should be careful so that the disease does not spread to the region”, he added.

The Manipur government also expressed a similar view and has sealed its border with Burma. Moreh, said to be one of the major trade points in the region with Burma, has been witnessing very little trade during the last couple of days in the wake of outbreak of bird flu. The Burmese villagers, who generally come to India to sell chicken and other animal meat through the Moreh trade point, are facing a tough time.

“They (Burmese traders) sell on an average 200 to 500 kg of chicken in Moreh a day, but due to the disease, the sale has come to a grinding halt”, Shaym, a Moreh hotel owner, said. Shyam said that the other trades are also suffering a setback as traders have stopped visiting the area. “If this continues then the entire business community would be affected”, he said.

Meanwhile, the Manipur government has taken precautionary measures to prevent an outbreak of bird flu in the northeast India. Even Burmese rice, which has good demand in the Manipur market, has been receiving a lukewarm response.