Alarmed over the possibility of the avian flu hitting the state, the Mizoram government has re-imposed a ban on the import of fowls and pigs from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
"We have informed all animal check-gates on both Myanmar and Bangladesh borders to be alert. We have also re-imposed the ban on the entry of all kinds of birds as well as pigs, as pigs are also vectors of the virus," C Sanngghina, director of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department said on Monday.
He said that the restrictions were initially imposed last year when the bird flu first struck but had been relaxed after the spread of the disease was seen to be subsiding.
A state-level disease emergency committee headed by the chief secretary, along with district-level committees headed by deputy commissioners has, meanwhile, been reactivated to prevent the outbreak of the disease, Sanngghina said.
The risk of the H5NA avian flu being carried into the state by migratory birds, however, was not as high as that of the other states in the country, forest officials said.
"We don't have a large number of migratory birds flocking to Mizoram. Most of them coming to India are those of water birds. In Mizoram, we have the hornbill species, which are less in number and not a threat in terms of spreading the disease," district forest officer Liankima Lailung said.