# 2011
A minor soap opera with major implications has been going on in Pakistan the past couple of days.
As my readers are well aware, officials of the Pakistani Poultry Industry apparently carry significant sway with some Pakistani government officials.
Together, they've been very protective of the industry.
Three days ago news broke that a provincial livestock officer has been suddenly transferred as `punishment' for revealing that bird flu had broken out at a farm in the Swabi district.
This is from Pakistan's Dawn newspaper.
PESHAWAR: Official made scapegoat in bird flu controversy
By Ashfaq Yusufzai
PESHAWAR, June 26: The provincial government has transferred an official of the livestock department from Swabi to Mardan as punishment for allegedly disclosing that H5N1 strain of bird flu influenza had been detected in a poultry farm of the district, sources told Dawn.
They claimed that on the advice of a local MPA, who favoured the poultry farm owners, Basic Livestock Officer Mohammad Ibrahim was made a scapegoat for revealing the information and “transferred within a day as the process usually takes a month”.
Earlier, the livestock department had conducted a test of poultry samples at the National Research Institute Islamabad that reportedly detected H5N1 virus in the poultry samples taken from a poultry farm in Tordher, Swabi.
In contrast to this report, the Poultry Association Swabi claimed that they had conducted a similar test of the poultry sample at the Poultry Research Institute Rawalpindi, which identified the virus as H5N9, which was not dangerous for human beings.
I reported on the testing by the Poultry industry here, and thus far, there is nothing but their statement to support their claim.
The immediate, and very public, punishment of this livestock officer for revealing the Truth is no doubt intended as a signal to others who might be similarly inclined. A shot across their collective bows, warning them to keep their mouths shut.
This sort of suppression of the truth isn't exactly new, nor is it exclusive to Pakistan. It happens all over the world.
The stakes here, however, are enormous. Turning a blind eye to outbreaks of H5N1, or disguising them as something more `convenient' places the world at risk.
Fortunately some officials, including representatives from WHO, have come to the defense of District Livestock officer Dr Mohammad Ibrahim.
This from yesterday's Dawn Newspaper.
SWABI: WHO, federal secy against livestock officer’s transfer
By Our Correspondent
SWABI, June 28: The World Health Organisation and the federal secretary for agriculture want cancelled the transfer of the district livestock officer to make the drive against bird flu in Swabi more result-oriented after detection of H5N1 in a poultry farm in the district’s Tordher village a week ago.
Sources told Dawn on Saturday that the federal secretary, WHO officials and all staff concerned stood against what they called the unjust transfer.
District livestock officer Dr Mohammad Ibrahim was made ‘scapegoat’ for his action against a bird flu-hit poultry farm which was immediately closed and about 2,000 birds were culled by officials of livestock and the WHO with the help of the local administration. Poultry farmers, however, have rejected reports of bird flu detection in the district as wrong.
When contacted, Dr Zia, WHO chief for the National Programme for Control and Prevention of Avian Influenza in the NWFP, told Dawn by phone from Peshawar that the transfer of the livestock officer was disturbing because under his supervision acquiring samplings from the H5N1 detecting region was vital.
“He was threatened with dire consequences when we reached for culling last Sunday. Despite the threat from poultry farm owners he moved forward and completed the culling operation within no time,” said Dr Zia.
“The H5N1 is very dangerous and the transfer of the livestock officer was a conspiracy. This was not the time to target him on the political ground and keeping in mind the track-record of H5N1 it is high time of coordination and cooperation to get rid of the virus.”
As we watch on this quiet Sunday morning, with little or no bird flu news to report, we should remember that many nations are not terribly transparent when it comes to reporting outbreaks.
In addition to attempts by local officials to suppress bird flu news in Pakistan, we also have Indonesia which no longer reports incidents in `real time', and China - where the Olympics are just over a month away - that has never been a leader in transparency on this issue.
Many other countries simply don't have a testing or surveillance program. This is particularly true in sub-Saharan Africa.
So yes, the news is quiet. And perhaps that's an accurate reflection of recent bird flu activity. I hope so.
But in a world where expedience often trumps the truth, it is sometimes hard to know for sure.
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