New Delhi: Amid already confirmed cases in six states, the bird flu scare has reached Delhi as dozens of crows were found dead in the city. The samples were collected and sent for testing, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's office said.
104 samples have been sent to Ludhiana after birds were found dead at three locations in Delhi - Mayur Vihar, Dwarka and Hastsal. Five more samples will be sent to Bhopal. Animal Husbandry Department has not confirmed any instance of bird flu so far.
"At a park in Delhi's Mayur Vihar III, a team of Delhi government found 17 dead crows, out of which four samples were collected. Two crows were found dead in DDA Park, Dwarka and one sample was collected. 16 dead crows were found in a park in Hastsal village of West district," it said.
"The collected samples have been submitted to a laboratory in Palam for sending them to National Institute of High-Security Animal Disease, ICAR, Bhopal on January 9 and to a lab in Jalandhar," it added.
Earlier, the Centre requested states and Union Territories (UTs) to increase awareness regarding the safety of poultry or poultry products. It has also issued appropriate advisories to restore consumer confidence affected by rumors is put to rest.
These six include Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Gujarat.
"Awareness among poultry farmers and the general public (consumers of eggs and chicken) about the disease is of foremost importance. Communication from Secretary (AHD) has been sent to Health Ministry to restore consumer confidence in consumption of chicken and eggs," the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said.
"Appropriate advisories have been requested to be issued from the Health Ministry in this regard so that consumer confidence affected by rumors is put to rest. Also, states have been requested to increase awareness regarding the safety of poultry or poultry products that were safe for consumption following boiling/cooking procedures for which central support would be available," it added.
Besides this, the states that are still unaffected by avian influenza have been requested to keep a vigil on any unusual mortality amongst birds and to report immediately so that necessary measures are taken in the fastest possible time.
Central teams have been deployed to visit the affected states of Kerala, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh for monitoring and for epidemiological investigation.
In another major decision, Punjab has imposed a complete ban on the import of live birds including Poultry and unprocessed Poultry meat for any purpose into the state of Punjab with immediate effect till January 15, 2021. The decision will be reviewed based on the evolving situation.
(With ANI inputs)
