E-Paper
1 dies, bird flu puts India on alert
Using protective masks, officials began culling nine lakh chickens, a day after the outbreak of bird flu in Maharashra.
Using protective masks and gloves, health officials on Sunday began culling nine lakh chickens, a day after the outbreak of the dreaded bird flu in Navapur where two human cases of the disease were isolated and blood samples of 95 people were sent for pathological tests.
A 27-year-old man Ganesh Bhai Ramesh Bhai Sonar, who hailed from Navapur, died due to acute respitatory problem in a hospital in neighbouring Surat, officials said but brushed aside reports that it was related to the avian influenza and asserted that he had "no exposure to poultry".
Contingency plan launched
Taking no chance, the on Sunday put into operation its culling the birds and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said in Mumbai that nine lakh affected birds were being slaughtered to stop spread of the disease.
Officials also started vaccinating the birds after isolating them from the dead ones.
A door-to-door medical check up of people from 19 villages in three kilometer radius of Navapur also began for any flu symptoms and authorities sealed a ten kilometer periphery of the affected area.
