INDIA HAS DECLARED ITSELF AN AVIAN INFLUENZA FREE COUNTRY AS NO BIRD FLU CASE HAS BEEN REPORTED FOR OVER THREE MONTHS, AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT SAID ON SATURDAY, ACCORDING TO DPA. "INDIA HAS DECLARED THAT IT HAS REGAINED ITS STATUS AS AN AVIAN INFLUENZA FREE COUNTRY," THE HEALTH MINISTRY SAID IN A STATEMENT. IT SAID THE FINAL REPORT IN THIS REGARD WAS SENT BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY TO OFFICE INTERNATIONAL DES EPIZOOTIES (OIE( (WORLD ORGANIZATION OF ANIMAL HEALTH) ON FRIDAY. THIS WAS DONE TO CLAIM THE DISEASE-FREE CERTIFICATE, AS UNDER THE OIE PROVISIONS A COUNTRY MAY REGAIN ITS STATUS AS AN AVIAN INFLUENZA-FREE COUNTRY THREE MONTHS AFTER A "STAMPING OUT POLICY," THE STATEMENT SAID. THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT ADDED THAT THOUGH THE COUNTRY HAD DECLARED ITSELF FREE FROM HIGHLY PATHOGENIC AVIAN FLU, IT WILL CONTINUE TO UNDERTAKE SURVEILLANCE. "CONSIDERING THE GLOBAL SPREAD OF AVIAN INFLUENZA AND THE SITUATION IN THE NEIGHBOURING COUNTRY WHERE IT IS ALMOST ENDEMIC, SURVEILLANCE WILL CONTINUE IN THE COUNTRY AS A WHOLE, ESPECIALLY IN THE OUTBREAK AREAS, AREAS OF MAJOR POULTRY CONCENTRATION AND THOSE VISITED BY MIGRATORY BIRDS," THE MINISTRY SAID.
