Telangana government has been put on alert after an avian Influenza outbreak was reported recently in neighboring Karnataka. Animal Husbandry department has been asked to sensitise staff about handling an outbreak.
An outbreak of bird flu, caused by H5N1 virus, was confirmed at a poultry farm close to Bengaluru late in December, prompting culling at the farm earlier this month. This also prompted administrations of neighboring States, including Telangana, to alert its veterinary staff to the possibility of an outbreak, mainly in bordering areas. Measures, including sealing borders to birds from affected areas, besides sensitising staff about of Centre’s bird flu protocols, will be taken if necessary, sources in the Animal Husbandry department said.
Circular
“A circular was sent to the districts to alert staff about the risk of outbreak. Besides sensitisation measures to ground-level staff, we will soon start randomly collecting blood samples from poultry in areas where the industry is clustered,” an official of the department said. “The current rate of mortality in Karnataka does not seem to be alarmingly high to initiate preventive measures yet,” the official.
