No sign of bird flu in Punjab: Experts
JALANDHAR : Experts at the Regional Disease Diagnosis Laboratory (RDDL), Jalandhar, on Wednesday said there are no signs of avian influenza or bird flu in Punjab yet as more than 150 suspected samples from various districts of the state have tested negative.
RDDL joint director Mohinderpal Singh said all the 24 samples received from Patiala district were tested through RT-PCR and results were found negative. “We have been received more than 750 samples from the various districts of Punjab to test bird flu,” added Singh.
The bird flu has spread from Pong Dam in Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, where the initial cases were reported in the last week of December, to Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala.
The Punjab government already declared the state a ‘controlled area’ in view of the bird flu outbreak reported in the neighbouring states and imposed a complete ban on the import of live birds, including poultry and unprocessed poultry meat, for any purpose till January 15. On the directions of Punjab chief secretary Vini Mahajan, the department of animal husbandry on Wednesday collected a total of 24 samples and sent these to the RDDL after 700 unclaimed dead chickens were
found dumped at Rakhra village of Patiala district.
Another RDDL official said that the samples of birds like crow received from Delhi and of poultry from Himachal Pradesh were tested positive for avian influenza. In case the samples are tested positive for bird flu, they are sent to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, Bhopal, for confirmation as it is the final authority to declare any kind of virus, he added.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS IMPOSED A COMPLETE BAN ON THE IMPORT OF LIVE BIRDS TILL JANUARY 15.