SUSPECTED BIRD flu killed around 1,400 chickens in Bakewar town of Etawah district on Saturday. The State Animal Husbandry Department has sounded an alert.
A team of veterinarians has been rushed to the spot to assess the situation and launch measures to check the spread of the disease.
Talking to the Hindustan Times, Etawah district Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Katiyar confirmed the deaths reported at the poultry firm owned by one Sanjay Dubey in Shastri Nagar locality of Bakewar.
“Chickens were dying since the last four days and on Saturday alone four hundred deaths were reported,” he said.
Dr Katiyar said veterinarians would collect the blood sample of the dead chickens and it would be dispatched to Animal Disease Laboratory to confirm if they were infected with the killer ‘H5NI’ virus that spreads avian influenza among the poultry stock. If avian influenza was confirmed, immediate slaughter of all the poultry stocks would be ordered, he said.
Katiyar said majority of the poultry stock was brought from Delhi. Even after the deaths of the large stock the poultry owner had not alerted the Veterinary Department. “Along with banning the transportation of chicken from other states we are planning to launch vaccination of the poultry stock,” he said.
Etawah Chief Development Officer NKS Chauhan too confirmed the incident. It was yet to be confirmed that avian influenza had killed the poultry stock, he said.
{{/usCountry}}Etawah Chief Development Officer NKS Chauhan too confirmed the incident. It was yet to be confirmed that avian influenza had killed the poultry stock, he said.
{{/usCountry}}The incident has come when the outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed in Maharashtra.
Animal Husbandry Department Director Dr BP Singh said in view of the report of outbreak of bird flu in several Asian countries the entry of poultry and domestic bird stock have been banned from Nepal into Uttar Pradesh.
Animal Husbandry Department has constituted rapid response teams in all the districts to check the outbreak and spread of the bird flu.
The officers and veterinary doctors have been directed to keep watch on the poultry. If group deaths of poultry were reported at any spot, the officials have
been directed to inform the headquarters the spread of the disease.
Animal Husbandry Department officials said the risk from bird flu was generally low to humans since the virus occurred mainly among birds and did not usually infect humans.
But during the recent outbreak of bird flu in China and East Asian countries it was found that humans were at risk. Several deaths were reported in these countries after human beings were contaminated with excretion of the infected birds.