July 7, 2004

India Takes Avian Flu Precautions

A team of veterinary doctors in India will be collecting blood samples of matured chicks from poultry farms in Imphal to check the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza or bird flu.

The team has been directed by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, and the government of India to send the samples for examination at the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, Bhopal. It urged the poultry farmers to cooperate with the department staff in the collection of samples.

An alarm was raised late last year as many South-east Asian countries were attacked by the Bird Flu epidemic that wiped out more than 100 million birds. Strict measures were taken up by the government by banning the export and import of birds. However, not a single case of bird flu has been detected in the state to date.