Latur poultry birds died of avian influenza: Animal husbandry dept

Pune: The animal husbandry department, Maharashtra, has declared Latur poultry bird deaths as confirmed cases of avian flu and is likely to implement all protocols, including humane culling of poultry birds, in the infected zones at two places in the district from Tuesday, animal husbandry commissioner Sachindra Pratap Singh told TOI on Monday.
The death toll in poultry birds surged in Maharashtra on Monday, as reports of 398 poultry birds found dead were received by the animal husbandry department.Of the 398 birds, seven died in Parbhani district, 60 in Latur, 265 in Nagpur, 12 in Nanded, one in Satara and 50 in Ahmednagar district, a senior official from the department said.
Three crows in Nanded and two in Gondia districts were also found dead, apart from eight peahens in Yavatmal district. The mortality in birds on Monday was 411, taking the total toll to 1,621 from Sunday's 1205.
The samples are being sent to National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases In Bhopal and Disease Investigation Section (DIS) Pune for testing. It can take 48 to 72 hours to get the results of the investigation, the official said.
Dhananjay Parkale, state additional commissioner of animal husbandry, told TOI, “There is no ban imposed on consumption of poultry products in the state. We have upped our surveillance in all the districts after the dead bird samples were found positive with avian influenza. We have 4,847 veterinary dispensaries across the state. There are seven to eight villages under each such veterinary dispensary on an average. These dispensaries have been instructed that in case they witness bird mortalities in their jurisdictions, they should immediately send samples of the dead birds to Pune for tests,” Parkale said.
He said it has been communicated to the owners of poultry farms and general public that an intimation of mortality in crows, parrots, herons or in migratory birds in any village or of any unusual mortality of poultry birds in commercial farms, as well as in the backyard poultry, be immediately given to the nearest veterinary dispensary. The intimation should also be given on the toll-free number, 18002330418.
The results of the inspection of the previously tested samples from Mumbai, Ghodbander (Thane district) and Dapoli for crows and herons and samples of poultry farm from Muramba (Parbhani) had been found positive for the H5N1 strain and samples from Beed district found positive for H5N8 strain of avian influenza late Sunday night. Culling operations have already started in the infected zone of Parbhani.