Bird death count surpasses 5,000-mark in Maharashtra

Pune: The number of bird deaths in the state crossed 5,000, as 982 poultry birds were found dead in Thane, Raigad, Satara, Sangli and Ahmednagar, among other locations, on Saturday.
The animal husbandry department officials said more bird samples from the state turned out to be positive for avian flu in some pockets in districts like Parbhani, Latur, Nanded, Solapur, Need, Ahmednagar and Raigad as well as Mulshi and Daund in Pune, as per results of samples sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal.
The process of declaring “infected zone” and thereafter, culling of poultry birds in 1km radius of such zones has also been initiated in Parbhani, Latur Beed, Raigad, Pune and Solapur districts.
Samples of poultry birds from seven districts in Maharashtra are positive for avian influenza, while those from two districts, Amravati and Akola, are negative.
Peacock samples from Khandala Arni in Yavatmal district have also been found positive for H5N1.
Over 700 poultry birds have been dying in Maharashtra every day over the past couple of days.
On Friday, as many as 753 poultry birds were found dead in the state.
Infected zones
Pune collector has now declared 1km area from affected pockets at Nande in Mulshi taluka and Boribel in Daund as “infected zone”. An area of 10km from there has been declared as surveillance zone. Orders have been issued on culling and disposal of birds (in the infected zone) as well as poultry products like eggs in a scientific manner.