Mah:Bird flu in 5 cities,culling of birds to start in Parbhani

Avian influenza has beenconfirmed as the cause of the death of different birds inParbhani, Mumbai, Thane, Beed and Dapoli in Maharashtra, asper test reports of a Bhopal-based laboratory, a senior stategovernment official said on Monday.

State Animal Husbandry Minister Sunil Kedar toldreporters in Nagpur that around 70,000 to 80,000 birds areexpected to be culled in a village near Parbhani, wherehundreds of hens had died at a poultry farm.

State animal husbandry department secretary AnoopKumar told PTI that they would be increasing bio-safetymeasures in poultry farms so that there is no interface withwild birds.

In the morning, Parbhani Collector Deepak Muglikarsaid that bird flu has been confirmed as the cause of thedeath of around 900 hens at a poultry farm in Murumba villageand the district administration has decided to cull nearly8,000 birds in the village.

When asked about the number of birds likely to beculled in Parbhani, Kedar said, ''I don't known the exactnumber, but approximately 70,000 to 80,000 birds will beneeded to be culled''.

''Results of the samples of dead birds from the Bhopallab tested positive for bird flu on Sunday evening. Now, Wehave only one option and that is to start culling the birdsthere and ensure sanitisation so that the infection does notspread from there,'' he said.

Kumar said the animal husbandry department has alreadystarted implementing its action plan and the culling of birdswill begin from Tuesday.

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

Three pond egrets and a parrot from Thane wereinfected by the H5N1 avian influenza virus, the institute'stest report said.

Besides, a chicken and two herons from Parbhani toodied of H5N1 avian influenza virus, while crows from Beed andDapoli (in Ratnagiri district) were infected by H5N8 avianinfluenza virus, as per the report.

''Our action plan implementation work has begun. Wewill be holding a review meeting with the chief minister(Uddhav Thackeray) in the evening,'' Kumar said.

''We will get our strategies approved by the CM andstart culling from tomorrow, especially in Parbhani wherepoultry birds have been found to be infected,'' he said.

The government machinery, including districtcollectors and forest department, is on alert, he said.

Meanwhile, Kumar sought to allay concerns of peopleover consumption of poultry products, saying the transmissionof the bird flu infection to humans is ''rarest of rare''.

He said the state government is running a campaign tomake people aware that it is safe to consume eggs and poultryproducts.

''It is absolutely safe to consume eggs and chicken asthe virus cannot withstand cooking temperatures, and peopleneed not worry as infection to humans due to bird flu israrest of rare.

''And our cooking temperature takes care of any kind ofvirus, not only flu virus...it is absolutely safe to eat eggsand chicken,'' he said.

Talking to reporters in Jalna, state Health MinisterRajesh Tope said his department is on alert in view of thebird flu cases found in the state.

Earlier, Parbhani Collector Muglikar said they havecreated a prohibitory zone in 10 km radius of the area wherethe birds died.

''No birds will be transported from there to any otherplace. Our medical team is stationed there and it is examiningall people of the village,'' he said.

There is no need to be panic and the districtadministration is taking all precautions, he added.

Meanwhile, the Thane Municipal Corporation has set upa control room to monitor the situation and appealed to peopleto promptly report any cases of bird deaths in the city.

It will also work to pro-actively remove fear from theminds of citizens and give them appropriate information fromtime-to-time, a release from the civic body said.

Bird flu cases have so far been confirmed inMaharashtra, Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, HimachalPradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.