The government is planning to make cancer a “notifiable disease”, which will mean every case will have to be reported. Till now infectious diseases like polio, plague, H1N1, H5N1 (bird flu) figure in the list of notifiable diseases. Recently, tuberculosis was made a notifiable disease. Cancer would become the first non-communicable disease to be included in the same category.

Officials in the Union health ministry disclosed that government is seriously considering to make cancer a notifiable disease and the decision in this regard will be taken very soon.

Even as some States have reported outbreak of A(H1N1) influenza, the Centre has said that since the virus is circulating in the community, border control measures, such as entry screening at airports, ports and railway and bus stations, is not essential.

The influenza has been reported from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, and some of these and their neighbouring States are resorting to screening at entry points.

Agartala: Timely vaccination of birds and animals, access to standard laboratories and maintaining bio-security are among the measures required to curb the sporadic outbreak of bird flu in India’s northeast, says a team of international and Indian experts touring the region.

Experts of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and India, who are on a five-day visit to Tripura to probe the causes of frequent bird flu outbreaks, have asked the northeastern states to maintain stipulated protocols to stop the contagious disease from resurfacing.

With the number of A-H1N1 (swine flu) cases increasing steadily, the Union Government on Wednesday said there was no cause for panic as the situation was well under control and being monitored.

An official in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare denied reports in a section of the media that the virus has mutated and is not curable.

A bird flu outbreak is suspected in Yangbari village in Gongdue, Mongar after 30-40 chicks were reported dead from nine houses last month.

The deaths were reported to the department of livestock on March 27 and the samples are yet to be confirmed positive by the national center for animal health in Serbithang, Thimphu.

Yangbari is about two days official walk from Nanglam and is not connected with electricity or road. Yangbari shares its border with four dzongkhags of Zhemgang, Samdrupjongkhar, Pemagatshel and Mongar.

The flu is back and with a scare again. More than a year after H1N1 virus was seen to be behaving mildly, it is expected to bounce back in 2012 with the experts warning that it may act differently this year and the cases are likely increase.

Experts say that the “unusual” timing of the virus in 2012 is enough for the prediction. “The number of cases this year are already more as compared to last year. On top of that, the onset of monsoon will only make the virus conducive to grow.