Culling to begin in Tripura today

Experts from the Centre’s animal husbandry department and health ministry have arrived here to assist the state government, reports Syed Sajjad Ali.

It’s official. Bird flu has spread to Tripura from neighbouring West Bengal. The central government laboratory in Bhopal confirmed that samples of dead fowl from Dhalai district have tested positive for the virus, official sources said on Monday.

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Authorities are getting ready to begin culling. Experts from the Centre’s animal husbandry department and health ministry have arrived to assist the state government.

Over the past weeks, at least 3,000 birds, including poultry, died in the villages of Mohanpur, Malaya and Tilagang in Kamalpur sub-division of Dhalai district bordering Bangladesh. After Manipur, Tripura is the second state in the Northeast to be hit by bird flu.

State animal resource and tribal welfare minister Aghore Debbarma told reporters that the state government is in touch with the Union agriculture ministry. He urged people not to panic and said the state government is not issuing a general alert as the outbreak is concentrated in a particular area. Debbarma added that poultry farmers would be compensated as per central guidelines.