Test confirms bird flu in Banka village

PATNA: State animal husbandry department (AHD) on Saturday sent veterinary doctors and experts to Babusa village under Dhoraiya block in Banka district following the confirmation of bird flu in one of the 36 samples sent for test to National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) at Bhopal. The AHD team will start mass culling of poultry and other birds in and around Babusa on Sunday.
“We received positive reports for avian influenza in Banka on Saturday.Accordingly, we have sent teams of veterinary doctors and mass culling exercise will commence on Sunday,” AHD secretary N Vijayalakshmi told reporters in Patna.
Earlier, around 2,000 poultry and other birds were culled at Mubarakchak and its neighbouring villages in Munger district on January 4 and 5. AHD sources said the carcasses of the culled birds are buried 5-10 feet underground. Bleaching powder and other disinfectants are spread while filling it to prevent the spread of H5N1 virus.
Elaborating on the bird flu outbreak in Bihar so far, Vijayalakshmi said: “The first incident was reported on December 19 in Goraho block of Munger district. We sent samples for tests which confirmed the presence of H5N1 virus. We immediately started culling of birds as per standard protocol. Later, positive reports for avian influenza came from Mubarakchak in the same district and the standard protocol was followed.”
She said the second case of positive report of avian influenza came from Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park (Patna zoo), which has been closed since December 25. NIHSAD and Regional Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL), Kolkata, had conformed that the six peafowls died at Patna zoo due to H5N1 virus.
“We have been continuously sending samples from different parts of the state for testing the presence of H5N1 virus. We have sent 36 samples from Banka, eight from Vaishali, 30 from Gaya, 91 from Patna and 37 from Nalanda districts. We have also sent samples from all those places from where death of poultry birds, cows or other animals was reported,” she said.