The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAH&D) has issued an advisory to the affected states so as to avoid further spread of the disease….reports Asian Lite News
Bird flu has been confirmed in seven states of the country so far, namely Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, while test reports of unsual death of birds received from Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Delhi are awaited, the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said.
As per a statement issued by the ministry, after confirmation of avian influenza (AI) positive samples by the ICAR-NIHSAD from two poultry farms in Panchkula district in Haryana, positive cases of bird flu in migratory birds were reported in Shivpuri, Rajgarh, Shajapur, Agar and Vidisha district in Madhya Pradesh, the zoological park in Kanpur, and Pratapgarh and Dausa districts of Rajasthan.
The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAH&D) has issued an advisory to the affected states so as to avoid further spread of the disease.
Reports of unusual mortality of birds in the past two days have also been received from Balod district in Chhattisgarh. The state has constituted RRT teams for emergency situation and has also sent the samples for testing to the designated laboratory.
Further, reports of unusual mortality in ducks have been received from Sanjay Lake in Delhi. The samples have been sent to the designated laboratory for testing. Samples of dead crows have also been sent to NIHSAD from Mumbai, Thane, Dapoli, Parbhani and Beed districts of Maharashtra for confirmation of AI.
Meanwhile culling operations have been completed in both the affected districts of Kerala and post-operational surveillance programme guidelines have been issued to the state.
Central teams deployed to visit the affected states in Kerala, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh for monitoring and for epidemiological investigation have reached their destinations, the DAH&D said.
Meanwhile, The Kanpur zoo has been shut down for 15 days after samples of fowls found dead in the zoo, tested positive for bird flu.
Four birds were found dead in the zoo premises on January 6 and the samples were sent to Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal under high security. The reports on Saturday confirmed the presence of H-5 strain bird flu in the dead jungle fowls.
Zoo Director Dr Sunil Choudhary said that the zoo has been closed for visitors for 15 days. The hospital enclosure where the infected birds had been placed, has also been shut down.
Four fowl and two parrots had been found dead in the zoo in the five days, putting the forest officials on alert.
The district administration in Kanpur has started the process of disinfect all poultry farms and teams have been set up to inspect meat shops.
Also read:Bird flu hits more states in India
