New Delhi [India], January 10 (ANI): As bird flu has been confirmed in seven States, the Central government has issued an advisory to the affected States in a bid to avoid further spread of the disease.
The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying in a release said that the states which have so far reported cases of avian influenza include Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.
The ministry said that reports of “unusual mortality” of birds have been received from Chhattisgarh on the night of January 8 and the morning of January 9 in poultry and wild birds in Balod district.
The State has constituted rapid response teams for emergency situations and also sent the samples to the designated laboratory, the release said.
Further, reports of unusual mortality in ducks have also been received from Sanjay Lake, Delhi. 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 avian influenza.
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 of Kerala. Central teams deployed to visit the affected states of Kerala, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh for monitoring and for epidemiological investigation have reached Kerala.
Furthermore, besides increasing surveillance around water bodies, live bird markets, zoos, poultry farms, proper disposal of carcass, and strengthening of bio-security in poultry farms have to be ensured.
States were also requested to be prepared for any eventuality of avian influenza and were requested to ensure sufficient stock of PPE kits and accessories required for culling operations.
“Chief secretaries/administrators were requested to arrange to issue appropriate advisories to quell consumer reactions, affected by rumours and increase awareness regarding safety of poultry or poultry products that are safe for consumption following boiling/ cooking procedures,” the release said.
In view of the spread of bird flu across the country, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced a ban on the import of live birds in the national capital and said that the Ghazipur poultry market will remain closed for 10 days.
With the anxiety of bird flu or avian influenza spreading fast, the sale of eggs and chickens have dropped in the national capital.
“The sale of eggs has dropped from 200-300 trays per day to just 100-150 per day in last two days as the scare of bird flu has increased,” said Vinod, an egg dealer adding that the sale was hit by up to 50 per cent.
Mohammad Salim, General Secretary of Gazipur Murga Mandi on bird flu scare said that they have formed a 5-6 member committee that surveys the market and checks the quality of poultry at different shops.
At a time when avian influenza has been detected in several states, over four lakh chickens have died in Haryana in the last month, JP Dalal, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Fisheries Minister of Haryana said on Saturday.
Samples from two poultry farms in Haryana have tested positive for H5N8 (Bird Flu), Dalal said. He added that as per the guidelines, all birds within a 1 km radius of where the birds tested positive will be culled and buried.
Meanwhile, the entire state of Punjab has been declared a ‘controlled area’ in view of the outbreak of avian influenza affecting birds in neighbouring states.
As per a statement from the Punjab government, a complete ban has also been imposed on the import of live birds including poultry and unprocessed poultry meat into the state till January 15.
Central teams visit Bird flu affected sites in seven states
The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying on Sunday said that the central teams formed for monitoring the spread of bird flu are visiting the affected sites in seven states across the country.
After confirmation of avian influenza positive samples in poultry (at two poultry farms) of Panchkula district, Haryana, State has deployed nine Rapid Response teams and control and containment operation is underway in both the epicentres, according to a release by Ministry of Fisheries.
The ministry said samples of crow/wild birds have been confirmed for avian influenza (H5) from Surat district of Gujarat and Sirohi district of Rajasthan.
Further, reports of unusual deaths of 86 crows and 2 egrets were received from Kangra district (Himachal Pradesh). Reports of unusual mortality of wild birds have also been received from Nahan, Bilaspur and Mandi (Himachal Pradesh) and samples have been sent to the designated laboratory for testing.
The department has issued advisories to the affected States so as to avoid further spread of disease. So far, the disease has been confirmed in Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.
Test reports of the samples sent to the designated laboratory from Delhi, Maharashtra are still awaited. Further, no samples have been confirmed positive in wild birds from Balod district, Chhattisgarh which were tested earlier.
Control and containment have been completed in both the affected districts of Kerala and Post Operational Surveillance Programme guidelines have been issued to the State of Kerala.
The central teams formed for monitoring the situation in the affected areas of the country are visiting the affected sites. One of the central teams reached Kerala on January 9, and is presently monitoring the epicentre sites and conducting epidemiological investigation. Another central team reached Himachal Pradesh on Sunday and is undertaking survey in the affected areas.
As per the central government, states have been requested to build awareness among the public and avoid the spread of mis-information regarding AI. States/ UTs have been requested to increase surveillance around water bodies, live bird markets, zoos, poultry farms, etc proper disposal of carcass, and strengthening of bio-security in poultry farms.
Moreover, the ministry has issued an advisory to the affected states so as to avoid further spread of disease.
The Punjab Government has declared the whole state as a ‘controlled area’ due to outbreak of Avian bird flu and imposed complete ban on import of live birds including poultry and unprocessed poultry meat for any purpose in Punjab with immediate effect till January 15, 2021.
With bird flu reports making headlines across the country, chicken shop owners in Thiruvananthapuram said their business has been hit hard. The price of mutton has climbed up to Rs 800 per kilogram.
Meanwhile, the Kanpur Zoological Park has been shut down until further orders in the view of the bird flu outbreak. As many as 91 crows and 27 ducks were found dead across 15 Delhi Development Authority (DDA) parks in Delhi, the DDA said on Sunday.
Green Area Sanjay Lake at Trilokpuri Phase-I, II and III declared as ‘Alert Zone’. Besides this, 104 samples have been sent for Bird Flu test, the reports of which are awaited.
According to Odisha Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Department, during current bird migratory season, 12,369 samples have been collected and so far and no sample has been reported positive for avian influenza in Odisha. (ANI)
