Vaccination for Birbhum birds

Statesman News Service
SURI, Dec. 20: Following reports of poultry deaths from Birbhum's Rampurhat and Bolpur block areas, the Animal Resources Development department (ARD) has started a mass vaccination programme in the entire district. Household poultry birds will be vaccinated under the programme.
ARD authorities have directed all block livestock development officers (BLDO) to start the programmes immediately. All birds are to be vaccinated within seven days. At least 18 per cent of the vaccinations are supposed to be completed by this evening.
Officials said that currently the vaccination programme has been carried out in 20 mouzas of Nalhati I and 15 mouzas of Rampurhat I block area. A final report in this regard is expected to come by Monday. “Birds that are 45 days old or younger will be vaccinated by using the RDF1 vaccine that prevents the outbreak of Ranikhet disease. Birds that have crossed 45 days will be administered the R2B vaccine,” a senior ARD official said.
While the district administration assured that there were no new death reports from anywhere in the district today, surveillance work in the two blocks from where poultry death reports were received have been initiated by the ARD. Teams have already started collecting blood samples of birds as a part of their routine surveillance. “There have been no reports of bird deaths today. Other than the ARD's surveillance, the state health department has also started surveillance work. The three sub-divisional hospitals of the district have been asked to prepare isolation wards like last year when there was a bird flu outbreak here,” said Mr Bisheswar Maity, district magistrate, Birbhum.
Meanwhile, in Malda, poultry culling began in six moujas of Old Malda block today. Located within a three km radius of Satgharia village, epicentre of the recent bird flu outbreak in the district, the six moujas were included in the culling map on Friday. “At least 5,000 birds would have to be culled in the six left out moujas of Old Malda,” said Mr NK Shit, deputy director, ARD, Malda. But concern has spread following reports that evading culling teams, some villagers had brought poultry to the Nawabganj Haat in Old Malda block on Wednesday from the affected villages such as Durgapur and Anandipur and had sold them. The administration is investigating the matter.