376 birds including 303 poultry birds found dead in Maha

A peacock sample from Loni Shirur Kasar in Beed district has been found to be positive for bird flu

A total of 376 birds including 303 poultry birds have been found dead due to avian influenza in Maharashtra. The samples are being sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal and Disease Investigation Section, Pune for testing. A total of 19076 deaths of various birds have been recorded to date since the outbreak of bird flu on January 8.

A peacock sample from Loni Shirur Kasar in the Beed district has been found to be positive for bird flu. According to the department of animal husbandry, so far 51203 poultry birds, 8 ducks, 38,798 eggs, and 55,476 kg poultry feed have been destroyed from infected zones. The government has issued a notification in all epicenters and culling of poultry birds, destruction of eggs, droppings, manure, feed has been initiated in the radius of one km from the infected poultry farm. Surveillance work is continued at the places where positive results have been reported in other species of birds excluding poultry. The process of collection of Cloacal and oro-pharyngeal swabs, droppings, and serum samples of the birds from the 1-10 km radius area from the infected zones will be initiated after issuing a sanitization certificate.

The state government has delegated powers to district collectors under the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act 2009 for the prevention, control, and eradication of avian influenza.