HARYANA CONFIRMS AVIAN FLU, CASES SPREAD TO SIX STATES
Prices of eggs, broiler chicken plummet; government declares state ‘controlled area’
PANCHKULA/NEW DELHI: As a Bhopal-based laboratory confirmed that 437,000 poultry birds in Haryana died because of bird flu, the Centre on Friday asked the six states where deaths because of the disease have been confirmed to increase their vigil and act to curb the outbreak.
The Centre has confirmed bird flu in Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Haryana, the government said in a statement.
Following the confirmation of bird flu, Haryana is set to start the biggest culling of birds in any state. Officials said 166,000 birds would be killed in the next few days within 1 km of Kheri and Ghanauli villages, they said.
Two of the three samples sent by Haryana from poultry farms in Panchkula’s Barwala belt to the Bhopal laboratory tested positive for avian influenza on Friday. Punjab and J&K have banned import of poultry from outside the state.
CHANDIGARH: Following reports of confirmed bird flu cases f rom various states, including neighbouring Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, poultry farmers say there is over 30% decline in the sale of eggs and broiler chicken in Punjab.
Apart from the dip in sale of poultry products, their prices have crashed as well. The wholesale price of a broiler dropped from Rs 90 to Rs 55 in Jalandhar. Similarly, there was a decline in the price of an egg from Rs 185 to Rs 130 per tray.
“This is peak season for poultry business but due to the flu scare, sales across Punjab have been affected and we are incurring huge losses,” said Harinder Kumar, a poultry farm owner in Jalandhar.
Another poultry farmer, Jugraj Singh from Kapurthala said, “We were yet come out of Covid-induced losses and now this flu has led to a reduction in sales even as Punjab has not recorded any confirmed case so far. If any positive case is reported from the state in the coming days, all poultry farmers will suffer huge losses,” he said.
State bans poultry imports till January 15
The Punjab government has declared the whole state as ‘controlled area’ in view of the outbreak of avian influenza affecting birds, including poultry, in the neighbouring states.
In another major decision, the state has imposed a complete ban on the import of live birds, including poultry and unprocessed poultry meat for any purpose into Punjab with immediate effect till January 15.
The decision will be reviewed based on the evolving situation, officials said. Disclosing this here, additional chief secretary of animal husbandry department VK Janjua said both the decisions were taken in consultation with animal husbandry minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa to prevent/control the spread of avian influenza, a scheduled disease in the state. He added that these decisions have been taken under the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act, 2009.
Send 50 samples daily for testing, districts told
In the wake of bird flu outbreak in neighbouring Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, the Punjab government has issued directions to all districts to send 50 samples daily to the Northern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL) for examination.
RDDL director Dr Mohinder Pal Singh said all field officers across the state were instructed on Thursday evening to send 50 samples from each district to examine over 1,000 samples daily in a move to contain the influenza spread at earliest if reported anywhere here.
He said authorities are taking sincere actions and since bird flu has spread in the adjoining states, they don’t want to take any risk.
The Punjab government had also issued an advisory to all deputy directors of the department concerned to ensure regular visits of field staff to commercial and backyard poultry farms in the state.
30 parrots found dead in Barnala district
As many as 30 parrots were found dead near a grain market of Tapa town in Barnala district on Friday. As the matter came to light, locals informed animal husbandry department officers who buried the parrots and took their samples for testing. Department deputy director Dr Krishan Kumar said the deaths might have occurred due to poisoning.
“All the dead birds have been buried with precautions. Though there is no report of bird flu cases in Punjab, the parrots’ samples have been sent to a Jalandhar-based laboratory for testing,” he added.
J&K too imposes curbs on import of poultry
JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir administration has imposed a ban on the import of poultry in the wake of growing cases of bird flu in the Union Territory. The ban was announced on Thursday and comes into effect from Friday and it will remain in force till January 14. Principal secretary of animal, sheep husbandry and fisheries department Navin K Choudhary said, “The J&K administration has imposed a complete ban on the import of live birds with immediate effect till January 14.”
‘HP govt prepared for any eventuality’
DHARAMSHALA : Stating that the government is fully geared up to tackle the bird flu in the state, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on Friday presided over the meeting with the district administration, animal husbandry and wildlife department to review the situation here on Friday.
More t han 3,500 birds, mostly migratory waterfowls, have died in the Pong Lake area due to the H5N1 outbreak. Some local birds including crows and parrots were also found dead.
Thakur said that monitoring of Pong Dam and adjoining areas was being done and quick response teams have also been deployed.
“As many as 3,410 migratory birds have died due to the virus in the Pong Lake area besides some local birds,” he said.
Crow carcasses found in parts of Delhi
NEW DELHI: Carcasses of dozens of crows have been found in east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar, and Dwarka and Hastsal in west Delhi over the past few days, triggering fears over a bird flu outbreak in the Capital, similar to the one that has affected at least six other states.
While officials of the municipal corporation and residents of Mayur Vihar Phase 3 said that about 150 crows had died in the past three or four days, the Delhi government said the number of birds found dead at the three places was below 50.
On Friday morning, after receiving reports of crow carcasses in Mayur Vihar Phase 3, a team of doctors from animal husbandry department reached A-2 Central Park and collected samples to check if the deaths were caused by the cold or flu.