The Government claimed that the outbreak of bird flu virus is localized to an area of 3 to 10 kilometers and that all precautionary measures have been taken. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar asserted that a series of "strategic" steps had been initiated after the outbreak such as notification of affected areas, ban on the movement of poultry or its products in and out of the areas, closure of poultry and egg markets and shops, destruction of affected poultry, and proper disposal of carcasses. He said that the Federal Government has rushed vaccines, tamiflu tablets for humans, and protective handling equipment to Maharashtra where the incidence took place. He also said that the Federal Government would share the cost burden with the state Government; farmers have variously rebuked the Rs. 60 per bird offered by the Government. Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramdoss claimed that no human has been infected even when farmers died of “unknown causes” in the area. Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Governments claimed that they were not affected and they and other states have barred import of poultry from neighboring Maharashtra. The Government banned the retail sale of tamiflu so hoarders may not scalp those who need the drug urgently. While all SAARC countries have banned the import of Indian poultry, there is no talk of co-operation, co-ordination, or containment of the pandemic. Indian veteran scientist and National Commission on Farmers M.S. Swaminathan advocated an autonomous monitoring body that can coordinate a response to not just this pandemic but other disease too. EU Agriculture Ministers were meeting in Brussels to coordinate action to fight the pandemic even as 250 German soldiers were deployed to join specialists in gathering dead birds, culling infected ones, and disposing the carcasses. Despite stringent measures by Nigeria, it confirmed that the virus has spread to three other northern states. Malaysia and Honk Kong reported isolated cases but no human infestation. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), heating the chicken for 70 degrees centigrade will make the meat safe for consumption. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the Government of concealing the veracity of the outbreak and questioned the Government's alertness to a disease known to be spreading for the last 2 years. While this may be good populist question, a better one would have been to question the measures taken by the Government to monitor, manage, report, and control the epidemic before it broke out. The Health Minister has irresponsibly asked people to continue consuming poultry asserting that the disease is localized. Migratory birds and trade of infected poultry carry the disease and while the movement may have been restricted the Government is yet to determine the root cause for the outbreak. If it had been migratory birds then there is absolutely no way that they can claim it being localized. If it is born from trade, it still needs to answer where the disease originated and all the places that have received the infected poultry.