Bird flu scare: 34 teams fan out in 8 Vadodara talukas

VADODARA: Amid bird flu scare, sudden death of some 25 crows in Vasantpura village of Vadodara’s Savli taluka has become a cause of concern.
A team of veterinarians, livestock inspectors and health officials reached the village on Friday and samples of dead crows were sent to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal on Friday.
“We have already formed 34 teams that visited poultry farms in eight talukas of the district.Once the report from Bhopal arrives, we will be reporting it to Gandhinagar and based on further directives from the director, animal husbandry, the necessary steps will be taken,” said Vadodara district development officer Kiran Zaveri.
“We had already alerted all poultry farms to remain vigilant. After reports of death of the crows, we have asked villages falling within 10-12 km periphery of Vasantpura to take extra precautions,” he said,
Further, door-to-door survey of 362 households covering a population of 1,749 individuals including residents of Vasantpura and two nearby villages – Varnol and Charanpura was carried out by Friday evening.
“We will come to know whether the birds have died due to bird flu or any other reason later. But our team is coordinating with veterinary officers so that appropriate action can be taken,” said district chief health officer Dr Uday Tilawat.