Maharashtra has become the eighth state in the country to confirm cases of bird flu. The ICAR-NIHSAD test reports said that chickens, crows, pond egrets, and parrots have died due to bird flu in Mumbai, Thane, Parbhani, Beed, and Dapoli.
The ICAR-NIHSAD report confirmed that two crows in Mumbai, three pond egrets and one parrot in Thane died of avian influenza. Earlier on Sunday, as many as 11 crows were found dead in Mumbai's Chembur area.
Animal Husbandry Secretary Anoopkumar informed collectors have been asked to increase vigil on migratory birds. He also said that rapid response teams have been formed to tackle the bird flu situation in the state.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday evening will chair a meeting to review the situation in Maharashtra arising out of the bird flu outbreak.
Meanwhile, bird flu has been confirmed as the cause of death of around 800 chickens in the last few days at a poultry farm in Maharashtra's Parbhani district. The district administration has now decided to cull birds in Murumba village where these chickens died.
"Three days ago, 800 chickens in Murumba village died due to bird flu. District administration had sent blood samples of dead chickens to National Laboratory. Reports confirm that the chickens died of bird flu," Deepak Mughlikar, District Collector, Parbhani told news agency ANI.
The bird flu outbreak has already been confirmed in Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.
The central government on Sunday said it has directed zoo managements to submit daily reports to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) till their area is declared free from the disease.
The CZA, under the environment ministry, issued an office memorandum saying avian influenza is a scheduled disease under the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act, 2009, and reporting such a disease is obligatory for taking appropriate preventive measures against its spread.
