Bird flu: Tripura calls for stepping up vigil

The Tripura government on Fridaycalled for stepping up vigil to keep an eye for mortality orsickness among poultry, wild ducks and migratory birds.

An advisory was issued by the Animal ResourcesDevelopment Department (ARDD) for all the districts of thestate.

''No unusual death of birds has been reported in theNortheast so far. States like Kerala, Rajasthan, MadhyaPradesh and Himachal Pradesh have reported unusual birdmortality due to highly pathogenic Avian Influenza but thereis nothing to panic as birds' deaths take place also due toother diseases,'' ARDD Director Dr K Sashi Kumar said.

ARDD officials were instructed to ensure thatsurveillance is carried out and samples regularly collectedfrom suspected birds for examination, Kumar said.

He also stressed the need for a massive awarenesscampaign among all sections of society to prevent the spreadof the disease.

All private farm owners and supervisors of governmentfarms were asked to regularly sanitise the premises withstrong veridical disinfectants.

Meanwhile, the owner of a duck farm in DhakaibariManipuri Basti in Sepahijala district has claimed that 50 ofhis ducks have died within a short span of time.

ARDD officials have collected the samples and sentthem for testing in Agartala.

''At least 50 ducks that had started laying eggs diedrecently. I have incurred a loss of over Rs 30,000,'' farmowner Bikash Sinha said.