News Analysis India

Tag: Bird Flu in India

  • Bird flu confirmed in few more cities of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday said bird flu has been confirmed in poultry birds in few more places in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.

    So far, the outbreak of bird flu or avian influenza in poultry birds has been confirmed in nine states — Kerala, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

    The disease in other birds such as crows, migratory and wild birds has been confirmed in 12 states.

    ​ALSO READ | Bird flu kills 90 more birds including 12 peacocks in Rajasthan

    In a statement, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said that bird flu has been confirmed in poultry samples from Nanded, Solapur, Pune, Ahmednagar, Buldhana, Akola, Nashik and Hingoli districts of Maharashtra as well as in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat and Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh.

    Further, the viral disease has been confirmed in crows in Rudraprayag Forest Division (Uttarakhand), in Titar in Junagad(Gujarat) and in peacocks in Beed (Maharashtra).

    The ministry said control and containment operations are going on in the affected epicentres of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

    ALSO READ | Bird flu confirmed in 12 Indian states for crow, migratory and wild birds: Centre

    Surveillance work is continuing at the places where positive results have been reported in other species of birds, excluding poultry, it added.

    On compensation to poultry farmers, the ministry said the Maharashtra government has sanctioned a compensation package of Rs 1.3 crore for culling of poultry and other birds, eggs and poultry feed and operational cost of disease control within 1 kilometre radius of the infected area, under the Bird Flu Disease Control Program.

    The compensation is paid to those farmers whose poultry birds, eggs and poultry feed are culled/ disposed of by the state as per the action plan.

    The Centre provides funds to states on a 50:50 sharing basis under a central government scheme.

    The ministry said it is taking continuous efforts to generate awareness about the disease through various platforms, including Twitter and Facebook.

  • Bird flu confirmed in 12 Indian states for crow, migratory and wild birds: Centre

    Compensation is paid to farmers whose poultry birds, eggs and poultry feed are culled/disposed of by the state as per the action plan.

  • Vigil up as bird flu fells migratory, poultry fowls across Indian states

    By Express News Service
    The Bhopal-based National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) confirmed bird flu in the crow carcasses sent from Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district, while the Jalandhar-based Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL) has rushed a team to collect samples from Barwala belt of Haryana, where over four lakh poultry bird deaths have been reported dead in the past one month. 

    Control rooms in Rajasthan After the Jhalawar samples returned positive, all national parks and forests in Rajasthan were put on high alert. Crows have formed a majority of the casualties in the state. At least half a dozen districts have reported bird deaths since the first case was confirmed on December 31, with Kota and Jodhpur accounting for the highest numbers. Chief Wildlife Warden of Rajasthan ML Meena said that vigil at wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, forests, and the wetlands housing migratory birds has been mounted. The thriving poultry industry in the state is under the continuous monitoring. “Carcasses of birds are being disposed of carefully,” he said.  

    A forest department official picking a sick crow off a road near Jal Mahalin Jaipur. A bird flu alert has been sounded in Rajasthan. (Photo | PTI)

    Haryana situationRegional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL) in-charge Dr Mohinder Pal said they have rushed a team to Barwala to collect samples of the birds after the first set could not return conclusive reports. 

    Tough measures in HP After the RDDL, Palampur Veterinary College, and the NIHSAD told the Himachal Pradesh government that the death of the 2,500-odd migratory birds is attributable to avian flu, authorities declared one-km area from the Pong lake as red zone to contain the spread. Sale of poultry products has been banned in Dehra, Jawali, Fatehpur, and Indora town of Kangra.After the outbreak, Punjab government too sounded an alert in the wetlands of Harike Pattan in Tarn Taran, Keshopur Chhamb in Gurdaspur, Nangal and Rupnagar wetlands.

    Confirmed cases in MPThe NIHSAD confirmed H5N8 strain in the crow carcasses from Indore and Mandsaur. Like Rajasthan, crows formed a majority of the casualties from the state. A dedicated control room has been established in Indore. Safety equipment, including PPE kits, anti-retroviral drugs, and disinfectants are being made available to the frontline workers.

    Double whammy for Indore health officialsIn Indore, where 142 crows were reported dead, at least two samples were found to be infected by the H5N8 virus. The state health department, which is already battling the Covid-19 situation (maximum cases and deaths in MP have been reported from Indore), has begun door-to-door medical check-up of people residing in areas where the crows were found dead. So far 14,000-plus people have been checked by teams

    (Inputs from Rajesh Asnani @ Jaipur, Harpreet Bajwa @ Chandigarh, Anuraag Singh @ Bhopal)