Amid bird flu scare, 34 dead crows found in 3 days in Chandigarh

Amid fears of avian influenza outbreak in Chandigarh, 14 more dead birds, including 13 crows and one peacock, were found from different areas of the city, mostly on the periphery, on Wednesday.

As many as 60 dead birds have been recovered since the carcass of a migratory bird was found floating in Sukhna Lake last Tuesday. In just the past three days, 41 birds have been found, with dead crows amounting to 34.

Even as all eight samples of dead birds sent to the Northern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Jalandhar, last week tested negative on Tuesday, the UT forest and wildlife department is concerned about the samples of 13 crows that were found near the railway station on Monday.

This was the first and only case of a number of bird carcasses found at the same spot. The test report is awaited, said chief conservator of forests Debendra Dalai. Even in other states where avian influenza has been confirmed, dead crows were found in high numbers.

7,770 more birds culled in Panchkula

Meanwhile, in Panchkula, where bird flu has already been confirmed in its Barwala poultry belt, 7,770 birds were culled on Wednesday. As many as 37,695 poultry birds have been culled at three farms in the past five days.

Samples from two farms had tested positive last week, after which five farms (including the two) were declared as falling in the infected zone and culling was ordered. However, two farms were removed from the list on Tuesday, as they fell beyond the stipulated radius of 1km.

Meanwhile, even as the Jalandhar lab director had claimed that samples from four more farms tested positive for bird flu, the confirmation is awaited from the national laboratory in Bhopal.