(IN): India catches the flu

July 26, 2007

India catches the flu 7/26/2007 9:03:26 AM

Less than a year after India declared itself bird flu-free after the scare

in Gujarat and Maharashtra, the dreaded virus has struck again; and this

time the menace is in the north east of the country - in Manipur.

So far only one poultry unit in Chingmeirong village in Manipur has reported

bird deaths. " On this particular unit, which is a very small poultry unit,

132 birds died on account of unusual mortality. 12 birds were alive. Of

these, one died later. As far as the remaining 11 birds are concerned, they

were purchased for purposes of sample and these birds, after taking samples,

have been killed because it was an infected premise, " said Upma Chaudhry,

Joint Secretary, Federal Animal Husbandry Department.

The outbreak has now been confirmed by the National Institute of Virology in

Pune and the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal. Over

1.5lakh birds will be culled within in a radius of 5 km of the village

in the

coming week.

" The government has decided to kill all the birds in a five kilometers

radius of that particular farm, " said TH Dorendro, Director, Veterinary and

Animal Husbandry Department, Manipur.

Medical teams will check about 4,50,000 people in and around Manipur's

capital Imphal as a precautionary measure. But there were no suspected human

cases or symptoms of bird flu among the 21 people on the poultry farm and

nine veterinary personnel.

India had declared itself bird flu-free last August after containing the

outbreak in Maharashtra and Gujarat. But this new outbreak in the north east

will pose a major worry for the Centre.

--

Fight captive Jumbo abuse, end Elephant Polo

Recommended Posts