Bird flu: Maha govt to set up bio safety laboratory

The Maharashtra government willprovide funds for setting up a bio-safety level-3 laboratoryto ensure quick testing for bird flu, Chief Minister UddhavThackeray said on Monday and sought to allay concerns overconsumption of poultry products in the areas where no suchcases are reported.

The chief minister also directed officials to provideaccurate information to the people so that rumours andmisinformation about bird flu situation do not spread.

''There is no need to panic since the disease does nottransmit among humans,'' Thackeray, who held a review meetingon the bird flu situation in the state this evening, is quotedas saying in an official statement.

The meeting, which was held at the CM's officialresidence in Mumbai, was attended by Animal Husbandry MinisterSunil Kedar and senior officials.

Thackeray also instructed all the district collectors,via video conferencing, about the measures to be taken tocontain the spread of bird flu after he reviewed the situationin the state.

He also said that funds will be made available to theanimal husbandry department to set up a bio safety level-3laboratory for fast diagnosis of bird flu.

''In areas where there are no bird flu cases, therewill be no threat if eggs and chickens are consumed aftercooking at temperature above 70 degrees Celsius.

''Misinformation and rumours should not be spread aboutit,'' the chief minister said, according to the statement.

Animal Husbandry Commissioner Sachindra Pratap Singhtold the meeting that 843 hens from Parbhani have testedpositive for H5N1 avian influenza virus.

Samples of 15 different types of birds from Thane and9 crows in Ratnagiri too tested positive for the H5N1 avianinfluenza virus. Eleven crows from Beed also tested positivefor H5N8 influenza virus, the official said.

According to the Bhopal-based ICAR-National Instituteof High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), two crows fromMumbai had also died due to bird flu.

The state government has also issued bird flu relatedguidelines to all the regional officers.

Earlier in the day, Animal Husbandry minister SunilKedar told reporters that around 80,000 hens will be culled inParbhani following the outbreak of the disease.

''We will have to cull around 80,000 hens in Parbhani.

We had asked the district collector there to cordon off thearea where the hens were found infected. No bird should go outfrom the area concerned. If need be, the people working thereshould also not venture out until everything is examinedmedically. The people from outside too should not enter theareas concerned,'' Kedar said.

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