March 1, 2021

21 poultry birds die from bird flu in Maharashtra, India

21 poultry birds in Maharashtra, India, have died from bird flu, and the fatalities include 15 birds in Beed and six birds in Nandurbar.

No death cases were reported in other birds, including herons, sparrows, parrots and crows in the state. The samples of the dead birds are being sent for testing to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal and Disease Investigation Section in Pune.

The Department of Animal Husbandry said that the containment measures implemented following the detection of bird flu in January have worked. The spread of the disease has been controlled as the state government delegated powers to the district collectors under the provisions of Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases Act, 2009 for the prevention, control and eradication of bird flu.

Thereafter, district collectors took preventive measures by initiating the process of declaring alert zones in areas where such cases were found.

So far, 8,84,076 poultry birds, including 7,49,472 birds from Navapur in Nandurbar district, 30,00,321 eggs and 64,394 kilograms of poultry feed have been scientifically culled and destroyed within a radius of one-kilometre from the poultry farm in the infected zones.

Additionally, farmers were encouraged to follow strict biosecurity measures.

- The Free Press Journal