Guj: Dead crow samples test positive for bird flu in Navsari

Samples of three deadcrows found in two villages in Navsari in Gujarat have testedpositive for bird flu, making it the fifth district in thestate to report cases, officials said on Sunday.

Crow carcasses collected from Syada village in Chikhlitaluka and Manpur village in Vansda taluka of the district onJanuary 11 tested positive for H5N8 avian influenza virus inRT-PCR tests conducted in a Bhopal laboratory, the officialsaid.

The district collector on Saturday evening issued anotification imposing restrictions over a one kilometre areaaround the spots where the carcasses were found, officialssaid.

Gujarat first reported bird flu from Junagadh districton January 8, and on January 11, cases were confirmed in crowsamples in Surat, Vadodara and Valsad.

The state's animal husbandry department said the virusdetected in the state so far is of a low pathogenic strainlimited to wild birds.

Under bird flu guidelines, a radius of 0-10 kilometresaround an affected spot is declared an 'alert zone' andintensive surveillance is carried out.

In an earlier release, officials said avian influenzais a low pathogenic virus, meaning it is less lethal thanother bird flu viruses, adding that not a single case of thevirus had been detected in humans so far.