Officials said the state is on alert. (Representative)
Ranchi, Jharkhand:
The process of culling around 4,000 birds, including chickens and ducks, began after the outbreak of bird flu in Jharkhand’s Bokaro district late Saturday evening, an official said.
He said that H5N1 virus has been confirmed in chicken of protein-rich breed called Kadaknath in Lohanchal farm, where 800 birds died and 103 had to be culled.
Director of the Institute of Animal Health and Production, Ranchi, Dr Bipin Bihari Mahtha told PTI-language, “The process of killing a total of 3,856 birds, including chickens and ducks, started late this evening in the affected area within one kilometer radius of the farm.” ” .
He said the work of killing the birds would continue on Sunday as the process takes time.
He said that after the birds died in the farm on February 2, the samples were sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal for testing and flu was confirmed.
He said that the process of fixing compensation has been started for those whose chickens and ducks are being slaughtered.
The district administration has already declared 1 km radius of the farm as affected area, while areas within 10 km radius have been declared as surveillance zones. It also banned the sale of chicken and duck in the district.
Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Arun Kumar Singh had earlier said that the state was on alert.
A medical team was formed to monitor the border areas of the district and to collect samples of chickens and ducks on large farms. Also asked to take samples of the people living in the affected zone.
A separate ward has been made in Sadar Hospital for people infected with bird flu.
Officials said symptoms of infection in humans include severe upper back pain, fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills and blood in the sputum.
The Animal Husbandry Department has issued an advisory urging people to report dead birds on sight.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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