Bird Flu: Govt Forms Control Room to Take Stock of Situation

On Tuesday, the Centre issued an advisory and directed state wildlife departments to take serious note of avian flu cases and report mortality of wildlife to the ministry on priority.

New Delhi: After cases of bird flu came to light in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh & Kerala, the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying on Wednesday set up a control room in Delhi to take stock on a daily basis of preventive and control measures undertaken by State authorities.

Meanwhile, Karnataka is on high alert to contain the spread of avian influenza as it blocked the entry of poultry and other birds from Kerala on Wednesday. The district administration at the Bodhi check post in the Kote taluk of Mysore-Kerala Border blocked the entry of poultry from Kerala following the bird flu outbreak in the state, informed Mysore District Collector Rohini Sindhuri. The step comes after avian flu took lives of thousands of ducks in Kerala. Both the state governments — Kerala and Karnataka — have been on alert since then.

Several steps have been taken to sanitise the vehicles coming from Kerala to Karnataka to avoid any kind of disease spread. The Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medical Services has increased security at the border check posts.

After confirmation of bird flu in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh & Kerala, Dept of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, GoI has set up a control room in New Delhi to take stock on a daily basis of preventive & control measures undertaken by State authorities: Govt of India

— ANI (@ANI) January 6, 2021

On Tuesday, the Centre issued an advisory and directed state wildlife departments to take serious note of avian flu cases and report mortality of wildlife to the ministry on priority. The advisory was issued after bird deaths were reported in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Kerala. Fresh cases were also reported in Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.

The development came after culling of chickens and ducks began on Tuesday in parts of Kerala to contain the H5N8 strain of bird flu, while Jammu and Kashmir sounded an alert and started collecting samples from migratory species after Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan; and Madhya Pradesh reported cases of avian influenza.