Chhattisgarh records first cases of bird flu in Balod district

Chhattisgarh on Thursday recordedits first confirmed cases of bird flu after samples taken fromchickens that died at a poultry farm in Balod district testedpositive for avian influenza, an official said.

The samples were collected from five out of over 150chickens that were found dead at GS Poultry Farm in Gidhalivillage under Dondi development block, said Matheshwaran V,director of state veterinary services.

These were sent to the National Institute of HighSecurity Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal on January 11 toascertain the cause of death, the official said.

''Reports of all five samples came positive for H5N8avian influenza virus on Thursday,'' he said.

In the wake of the confirmation, all districts havebeen put on alert and directed to follow precautionaryprotocols, the official said.

As per the Central government's guidelines, the areawithin 1 km radius of the poultry farm has been declared as an''infected zone'' and the Rapid Response Team (RRT) has launchednecessary action, he said.

Transportation of poultry will be prohibited, whilerestrictions will also be imposed on the movement of peopleand vehicles in the infected zone, he said.

Apart from this, the area from 1 km to 10 km of thepoultry farm has been declared as a ''surveillance Zone'', wheremonitoring of poultry birds will be carried out, the officialadded.

Another veterinary officer said, culling of thepoultry birds at the farm will be carried out on Friday.

As per the guidelines, the birds will be buried in a10 feet dip pit and salt and bleaching powder will besprinkled in it.

Disinfectants will also be sprayed to prevent spreadof the virus while filling the pit, he added.

The birds which were earlier found dead in the farmhave been buried in keeping with the protocols, he added.

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