Central team sent to bird flu-affected Sikkim

With bird flu spreading to Sikkim, the Union Health Ministry has sent a team to the north-eastern state to help the authorities in micro planning and contain the disease.

With bird flu spreading to Sikkim, the Union Health Ministry has sent a team to the north-eastern state to help the authorities in micro planning and contain the disease.

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Informative material such as radio and television spots in Nepali language have been dispatched to state health authorities while other materials such as fliers and posters are being electronically transferred to the state to carry out appropriate local campaign.

The health ministry has supplied 6,000 capsules of Oseltamivir, 5,000 three-layered surgical masks, 100 Personal Protective Equipment and 100 masks, senior Health Ministry officials said.

"The situation is being monitored on a daily basis," they said.

Culling of poultry began yesterday in Sikkim with nearly 1,000 birds slaughtered in bird flu-affected Ravangla area in South district.

Bird flu was confirmed in the locality after samples of 30 birds which died in Ravangla tested positive at the High Security Diseases Laboratory in Bhopal.