Bird flu: MP government orders closure of poultry shops in two districts

The Madhya Pradesh government hasordered closure of poultry shops in Neemuch and Indoredistricts for a week after bird flu infection was found amongchickens in these areas, officials said on Thursday.

Avian influenza or bird flu virus was found insamples of crow carcasses from seven districts and in chickensamples from Neemuch and Indore, said the state veterinarydepartment in an advisory.

The National Institute of High Security AnimalDiseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal, confirmed presence of bird fluvirus in the samples of crows from Indore, Neemuch, Dewas,Ujjain, Khandwa, Khargone and Guna districts, it said.

In Indore and Neemuch chicken samples also testedpositive for the flu strain, it said.

The state government has directed authorities inIndore and Neemuch districts to immediately close all poultryshops for the next seven days, it added.

They have also been asked to collect samples ofmigratory birds from near water bodies and send them toBhopal for testing.

In other five districts too, preventive measuresshould be taken, the advisory said.

On Wednesday, the state government had said it wouldnot allow entry to chicken consignments from Kerala and othersouthern states for the next 10 days as thousands of poultrybirds were culled in Kerala to prevent the outbreak of H5N8virus.

The Centre on Thursday said bird flu has beenconfirmed only in Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh andHimachal Pradesh so far, but all states should be prepared forany eventuality.