24 birds dead, 17 in Hauz Khas park

NEWDELHI: Seventeen more ducks died at the Deer Park in Hauz Khas on Saturday, pushing the day’s toll from across the city to 24.

The deaths came a day after a lab report confirmed that a less virulent avian influenza strain has struck the Capital’s birds.

Government officials said the situation at the Delhi Zoo, where samples of dead birds were first tested positive for H5N8 avian influenza, is under control. However, the “continuous reports of mortality” from Hauz Khas is worrying, they said.

Both the zoo and the Hauz Khas park will remain shut till normalcy returns, a Delhi government official said.

The city government has declared that the virus is not very harmful to humans.

“Seventeen more carcasses were found. These birds have visual symptoms of bird flu,” an animal husbandry department official told HT.

Seven more cases were reported on the Delhi government helpline from areas such as Neb Sarai, Vikaspuri, Ber Sarai and even Noida. “These don’t look like bird flu cases. People see dead crows and pigeons and call in panic. We are disposing the carcass by burying them deep... A lime layer is also being put and the area gets disinfected,” the official said.

Ghazipur murga mandi, the sole meat market which caters to the entire city and perhaps the only place from where the virus can enter the food chain, is being closely watched.

Every day, the market gets at least 200 trucks of chicken which, officials from the animal husbandry department said, means 2.5 lakh chicken entering the market on a daily basis.

The poultry comes from neighbouring states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

“Physical evidence suggests that there is no infection yet in poultry .... Officials are making sure that all trucks have the mandatory health certificate of the chickens,” an official said.

Delhi development minister Gopal Rai on Friday had ordered that health certificate is mandatory for poultry transported to the Ghazipur market.

Besides, a 15-member committee, including poultry traders, doctors and market association officials, was constituted for enforcement of the provision.

Special pits filled with water, potassium and slack lime are also being created at the entry gates to sanitise truck tyres.

There is no threat if chicken is properly cooked before being eaten, the government had said.