TEST RESULTS FROM BIRDS NEGATIVE, NO NEW DEATHS

NEW DELHI: After days of uncertainty and dread, there’s some relief in terms of bird flu scare in the city. The test reports of blood and saliva samples from birds collected from different parts of the city have come out as negative.

According to a Delhi animal husbandry department official, this is good news in terms of the suspected H5N8 outbreak. A total of 50 samples were collected and sent by the Rapid Response Team (RRT) of the Delhi government over 10 days ago and the reports were received on Tuesday.

“The reports have come from the National Institute for High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal. The samples of blood and droppings were sent from places like Okhla Bird Sanctuary, Nizamuddin, Yamuna Diversity Park in Wazirpur, Najafgarh drain and Ghazipur murga mandi. The report is a relief,” the official told HT.

To date, only samples of carcasses sent from Delhi zoo, Hauz Khas Deer Park and Shakti Sthal have come back positive for H5N8 avian influenza, he said.

There has been no bird mortality on Tuesday and the toll remains 80. On Monday, three crow carcasses were found near the water body at Shakti Sthal near Raj Ghat.

All the four sites – Shakti Sthal, Delhi zoo, Deer Park and district park in Paschim Vihar – from where dead bird carcasses were found, are shut and being monitored closely.

After the deaths stop, every 15 days tests will be done and these spots won’t be reopened until authorities are completely sure that these are virus-free, an official said.

Delhi development minister Gopal Rai last week took a meeting of the coordination committee formed to combat bird flu to discuss the measures to be taken by the government.