Bhaktapur on alert after bird flu scare
2011-11-30 11:25 PM
BHAKTAPUR: Officials in Bhaktapur are keeping a close watch on fowls in and
around Madhyapur, Thimi, where fowls tested positive for bird flu virus, H1N1,
recently.
The area covering Lokanthali Height in the East, squatters’
village in the North, Manohara River in the West and the Bhaktapur main road in
the South has been declared the bird flu-affected area.
Officials said
the area will be closely monitored for the next 42 days.
When local
Chandra Bahadur Tamang’s 35 chicken died, he had reported the incident to the
Directorate of Animal Health on November 10-11. They were later found to have
died of bird flu.
Residents in the affected area will not be allowed to
rear any fowls during the 42 days, said a surveillance team under Shiva Bahadur
KC, chief of District Veterinary Office, Bhaktapur, was in the area today to
take stock of the situation.
The team found no fowls being reared in the
area, said KC.
It will immediately destroy any chickens or ducks it
finds, he added. “We will conduct a strict supervision of the area for 42 days.
No one will be allowed to rear fowls during the time,” said KC.
According to KC, other chicken samples collected from different places
inside the 3-km radius from Tamang’s home had tested negative. “The results show
that the flu has not spread very far,” KC added.
Bhaktapur is the second
largest chicken producing district in Nepal. According to the District
Veterinary Office, the district produces 10,000 kg of chicken and 150,000 eggs
every day.
The Directorate of Animal Health has mobilised a Rapid
Response Team to destroy affected fowls. Yesterday, the team destroyed 232
ducks, 76 chickens and 17 eggs after they tested positive for H1N1 virus.
Meanwhile, Dr Tanka Sedain, chief of Veterinary Office, Kathmandu, said
although a large number of people came to the office with complaints of chicken
ailments following the news of the flu, none have tested positive for the
virus.
http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Bhaktapur+on+alert+after+bird+flu+scare&NewsID=311153
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