Bird flu in poultry spreads to 6 states, Punjab joins the tally

NEW DELHI: The centre, on Wednesday, confirmed fresh cases of bird flu in Punjab for poultry taking the tally to six states where the disease has been found in poultry. The bird flu in poultry samples was earlier confirmed in states like Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and Chhattisgarh.

Apart from poultry, a large number of crows has also been confirmed to have died due to bird flu in Punjab.

The union ministry of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying has asked civil aviation ministry to allow easy transportation of samples suspected for bird flu for testing through airlines for faster confirmation and swifter action.

“So far, deaths of crow, migratory birds and wild birds due to bird flu have been confirmed in 10 states - Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan and Punjab. Control and containment operations are going on in the affected epicentres of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Haryana,” union fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying ministry said in a statement.

The central team formed for monitoring the situation in the affected areas of the country has visited Satara, Latur, Parbhani and Beed districts of Maharashtra to monitor the epicenters of bird flu outbreak and conduct epidemiological studies.

“All the states are reporting to the centre on daily basis regarding the control measures adopted to control the spread of the disease. The situation is under control. The number of cases will come down with rise in temperature and return of migratory birds from the country.,” said a senior animal husbandry ministry official.