The outbreak of any animal disease in the farthest corner of the country will soon be detected with ease, courtesy the new National Animal Disease Reporting System, announced Dr P.K. Shukla, Joint Commissioner (Poultry), Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India.

He said: "This system that we are developing in association with NIC (National Informatics Centre) will relay any abnormal animal death or disease from even a remote village to the centre, through the Internet," reports Express Buzz.

This will ensure that before an actual outbreak, the government can take emergency evasive measures. He spoke on the sidelines of a national workshop on 'Chicken Anaemia and Infectious Bronchitis in India', at the Madras Veterinary College.

Dr Shukla also said that though the project will be introduced at the block level for now, it is being initiated in about 600 districts across the country.

He said: "Right now the only problem is the infrastructure. The software part is ready but the individual states need to take the initiative to provide funds for the hardware in their respective districts."

Though the project is looking at full-scale completion by the end of the financial year, Dr Shukla concedes that there will most likely be a spill-over into the next year.

He added: "TN has been our most active state with complete support both from vets as well as the government. The system is being incorporated in every district here."

The system will possibly mark the end of an age-old practice that their Ministry has been plagued with, indicated the Joint Commissioner.

He explained: "So far, the policymakers, veterinary doctors and academicians only get together in times of emergency to achieve short-term solutions. Perhaps from now on, we can begin some long-term planning without the imminent fear of how to control an outbreak if it hits."

The poultry industry is growing at a phenomenal rate in the state, said Dr R. Prabhakaran, Vice-Chancellor, TN Veterinary and Animal Sciences University.

Responding to requests from the gathered veterinary academicians, Express Buzz reports Dr Shukla saying the government had a "controlled and stringent" approach to importing vaccines for animals because of the anomalies that variant strains might cause in the poultry. This, he felt, posed a threat to biosecurity of Indian poultry that would adversely affect export as well as internal consumption.