Bird flu: Assam bans entry of poultry products from outside NE


PTI | Guwahati | Updated: 08-01-2021 23:53 IST | Created: 08-01-2021 23:46 IST
Bird flu: Assam bans entry of poultry products from outside NE
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The Assam government has imposedan indefinite ban on the entry of poultry products fromoutside the Northeastern region as a precautionary measurefollowing avian flu outbreak in some states.

The ban comes into force with immediate effect andwill remain in effect until further orders, according to anotification issued by the Animal Husbandry and Veterinarydepartment.

However, there is no need to panic as the state hasnot reported any confirmed case of the bird flu so far,director of the state veterinary department Ashok Barman said.

Assam imports poultry products from other parts of thecountry, especially Eastern India, but officials said therewill not be a shortage of chicken due to the large scale localproduction and storage.

The government has imposed a ''temporary ban on entryof poultry as a precautionary measure through western borderof the State in the interest of prevailing escalation of thedisease to Assam and other Northeastern states'', thenotification said.

This has been done due to the outbreak of the highlypathogenic avian influenza in some parts of the country whichis a highly contagious avian disease having zoonoticpotential, it added.

Advisories have already been issued to the authoritiesconcerned for strengthening the active and targetedsurveillance against the disease.

''Poultry products are usually imported to the statefrom West Bengal, Bihar, Rajasthan, UP among others and wehave decided to ban it temporarily as infected birds shouldnot be allowed to come to Assam,'' Barman said.

The Centre has asked the states that are stillunaffected by avian flu to keep a vigil on any unusualmortality of birds.

The disease has so far been confirmed from six states- Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryanaand Gujarat.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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