Khurda/Rourkela, Jan 4: Yesterday the Khurda district administration completed the culling process of poultry at the Kerang village. As a preventive measure against bird flu, the villagers there have been directed not to rear fowl and duck for the next three months. This was informed by Fisheries and Animal Resources Department (F&ARD) secretary Bishnupada Sethy to the media persons in Odisha capital. He further pointed out that the culling process had been conducted based on the instructions of the Government of India. The experts culled poultry in the epicentre of the disease, the Kerang village and also some of the nearby places which are within one km radius. During the survey, no poultry farms were found in these areas. Later, mostly the fowls were culled only after the villagers agreed to the proposal of the district administration to pay compensation. Adequate measures have also been initiated to control the further spread of the flu. The flu is said to be a pathogenic virus which can affect human beings mostly children and elderly persons, and other domestic animals. He also stated that to test the spread of bird flu in Rourkela and Panposh and find out whether it’s already spread or not, samples of dead birds were sent to the High-Security Animal Diseases Laboratory in Bhopal, where it was found that the dead birds were infected with H5N1 virus. Also the sample of the dead Pelican bird found in the zoo inside the Indira Gandhi Park in Rourkela has been tested positive with H5N1 virus. However, the outbreak of the disease in these particular areas has not affected the poultry.
Meanwhile, witnessing the outbreak of bird flu in Rourkela and its surrounding areas, the Sundargarh district administration constituted 20 teams to conduct a survey in the rural areas where the death of fowls have been reported. After attending a high-level meeting in the Steel City yesterday, the Sundargarh collector, Bhupinder Singh Punia briefed the media that those 20 teams are engaged in collecting blood samples of the dead fowls. Required steps have also been taken to provide vaccination to about three lakh fowls within 10 km radius of the Steel City.
Yesterday morning, carcasses of around 10 crows were found behind the CISF campus and Ispat General Hospital (IGH). After getting the information, the Forest and Animal Resources department officials arrived at the spot and dumped those dead crows inside a pit.
