Bhubaneswar -H5N1 scare: 20,000 birds culled in city on day one #H5N1 #BIRDFLU

H5N1 scare: 20,000 birds culled in city on day one

Monday, 06 February 2012 00:05

PNS | Bhubaneswar

          The Animal Resources Development Department, along with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, on Sunday commenced the culling of poultry birds at the Central Poultry Development Organisation (CPDO) in Bhubaneswar following the advisory from the Union Agriculture Ministry to prevent the spread of the avian influenza (H5N1) virus.

On the first day, an estimated 20,000 birds, including 11,955 chicks, were culled by four Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) at the CPDO, which has nearly 30,000 birds, according to official sources.

The culling operation, which is being undertaken in a 3-km radius of the CPDO, particularly in and round 29 wards of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), is likely to continue for another three days.

In the second phase, the operation is likely to be carried out after due preparation on Monday at the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) poultry farm here, where the chicken population is around 10,000,

In the third phase, the killing of domesticated chickens and ducks would be taken up in the individual households, particularly in the slums under the 29 wards, for which a door-to-door survey of the birds is being undertaken by six RRTs.

The teams are also taking up sanitisation and sensitisation programmes as part of the surveillance activity to check spread of the avian flu.

Following the detection of the avian influenza at the CPDO, the BMC has set up a control room to monitor the situation and has formed a mobile team to undertake sanitation measures and raid the shops selling chicken and related products in the affected areas.

The BMC authorities have already ordered to stop sale of chicken and related products in the Government-approved OPLEFED shops as well as at private shops. Besides, restriction has been imposed on import and export of any poultry birds in the 3-km radius of the CPDO.

On the advice of the Central Animal Resources Development Department under the Agriculture Ministry, the State Government had already culled 44,000 poultry birds, including ducks, at Kerang in Khurda district and Bahanada in Mayurbhanj district early last month after bird flu was confirmed by the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL), Bhopal.

So far, 5315 blood samples of poultry birds from various places of the State, including 41 from Bhubaneswar, have been sent to the HSADL for testing, and only four cases have been found as H5N1 positive, sources said.  http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/40513-h5n1-scare-20000-birds-culled-in-city-on-day-one.html