Bird flu confirmed in Maharashtra and Delhi, Parliamentary meet today

Bird flu has been confirmed as the cause of death of around 900 hens in the last few days at a poultry farm in Maharashtra's Parbhani district, a senior official said on Monday.

Seven other states - Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat - had earlier confirmed Avian Influenza as the cause of the recent bird deaths

The district administration has now decided to cull nearly 8,000 birds in Murumba village where these hens died, Collector Deepak Muglikar told PTI.

Earlier, Muglikar on Saturday said around 900 hens had died at a poultry farm, run by a Self-Help Group (SHG), in the village and their samples were sent for testing.

"The cause of the death has been confirmed as bird flu. Hence, we have decided to cull all the birds in one-km radius of the place where these deaths took place," the collector said.

"We have created a prohibitory zone in 10 km radius of the area where the birds died. No birds will be transported from there to any other place. Our medical team is stationed there and it is examining all people of the village," he said.

There is no need to be panic and the district administration is taking all precautions.

The bird flu outbreak has already been confirmed in Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.

The central government on Sunday said it has directed zoo managements to submit daily reports to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) till their area is declared free from the disease.

The CZA, under the environment ministry, issued an office memorandum saying avian influenza is a scheduled disease under the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act, 2009, and reporting such a disease is obligatory for taking appropriate preventive measures against its spread.

Testing of eight samples sent to a Bhopal-based laboratory has confirmed bird flu in Delhi, officials said on Monday.

All eight samples -- four from a park in Mayur Vihar Phase 3, three from Sanjay Lake and one from Dwarka -- have been found positive for avian influenza, Dr Rakesh Singh from the animal husbandry unit of the Development Department said.

The report of the test results arrived on Monday morning, he said.

Officials earlier said that around 50 crows had died in Central Park, Mayur Vihar Phase 3 in a span of three to four days.

Ten ducks were found dead in the Sanjay Lake recently.

A few samples were also sent to a lab in Jalandhar and their results are awaited, Singh said.

The parliamentary committee on agriculture to meet today on evidence of representatives of Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandary & Dairying in connection with examination of the subject 'Status of Veterinary Services and Availability of Animal Vaccine in the Country'.