BH-BIRD FLU

Culling of birds have been ordered

in Barahat block of Banka district after samples were found

positive for bird flu, a senior state government official said

Saturday.

"So far, we have found samples positive for bird flu

from three places- two places in Munger and one in Patna i.e.

Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park known as Patna zoo. But today,

we received positive result for bird flu from the samples

collected from Barahat block of Banka district," Animal and

Fish Resources Department's Secretary N Vijayalakshmi told

reporters here.

"We immediately sent teams comprising officials and

veterinary doctors to Banka. Culling of birds will begin from

tomorrow," Vijayalakshmi said.

Around 3-4 crows were found dead at an orchard behind

Barahat block of Banka district a week ago, official sources

said.

The department has collected samples from various

places, including various poultry farms in different

districts,she said adding that the department had collected

samples from Gorho panchayat under Asarganj block of Munger

district on December 19, 2018 which were found positive.

Samples collected from Mubarakchak village under

Munger block of Munger district were also found positive, she

said adding that "we strictly followed standard protocol in

the event of occurrence of avian influenza which is also known

as bird flu."

More than 50 crows and umpteen numbers of chickens

were found dead in Gorho and Mubarakchak village of Munger

district.

Vijayalakshmi assured the people of the state that

there is no need to get panic and said that they can consume

eggs and chicken if they cook them beyond 70 degrees

temperature as virus get destroyed on this temperature.

"It is safe to consume eggs and chicken because

normally they are cooked at very high temperature (beyond 70

degrees) in our households. So there is no need to be

panicky," the Secretary said.

It may be noted that around a dozen crows were found

dead in an orchard at Chandanpatti village under Sakra block

of Muzaffarpur on Janaury 6, triggering panic among the local

people.

Carcasses of eight crows were found in College of

Arts and Crafts at Patna.

Around 400 chickens were found dead at a poultry farm

in a village in Bikram block of Patna district in the past 48

hours.

Even Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, popularly known as

Patna zoo, has been closed since December 25 (2018) following

death of six peafowls due to H5N1 virus which was confirmed by

the experts of Regional Diseases Diagnotic Laboratory (RDDL),

Kolkata and National Institute of High Security Animal

Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal, zoo official sources said.