Amid flu scare, 14 dead birds found near railway station in Chandigarh

Until now only isolated cases of dead birds had surfaced in the city, which borders Haryana’s Panchkula district that has confirmed avian flu

Thirteen dead crows and one pigeon were found near the railway station on Monday, raising fears of avian influenza outbreak in Chandigarh as well.

Carcasses of 13 crows and one pigeon were found in the same area near Chandigarh-Panchkula border. ((HT photo for representation only))

It was last Tuesday that the carcass of a migratory bird was found floating in Sukhna Lake, and since then 19 more dead birds were recovered from different areas in the city till Sunday. However, all these were isolated cases. On Monday, for the first time, a number of dead birds were found in the same area, which is close to Chandigarh-Panchkula border.

Bird flu has already been confirmed in the Barwala poultry belt of Panchkula district, where culling operations are underway.

“The birds were found close to each other and 13 of them were crows. Even before this, we have found dead crows in the city, which makes the matter serious. We have sent the samples for testing to Northern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Jalandhar,” said Debendra Dalai, chief conservator of forests.

Of 34 dead birds found till now, 16 were crows. The test results of the bird found at Sukhna and a pigeon recovered on Wednesday had come negative on Friday night. Results of five other samples are still awaited, because of which no further sample had been sent for testing till Sunday.

As of Monday, 10 Indian states have reported the outbreak: Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Delhi. No case among the human population has been reported.