FIRST AVIAN FLU REPORTED IN JAMMU

JAMMU: The Udhampur and Poonch districts of Jammu region have reported their first cases of avian influenza as samples taken from three dead birds tested positive for the disease, prompting precautionar y measures including the culling process, a senior official said Sunday. The Deputy Director (Poultry and Research) of the Animal Husbandry Department, Jammu, D D Dogra said while samples from a peacock and a domestic fowl have returned positive for H5N8 from Juganu block in Udhampur, a wild crow was tested positive for H5N1 from Mandi area of Poonch. "These are the first positive cases in Jammu region but there is no need to panic as majority of the test reports are negative," he told PTI.