‘Avian flu’ kills 2 more birds in Patna zoo

PATNA: Two more birds — a peafowl and a khalij pheasant — died at Patna zoo on Saturday. Zoo director Amit Kumar said bird flu was suspected to be the reason behind the fresh casualties. The state health department and district administration have already issued alerts after the death of six peafowls on the zoo premises due to avian influenza (bird flu) last week. The zoo has been temporarily shut down amid bird flu scare.

“The birds were found dead in their enclosures this morning,” Amit told this newspaper. He said the khalij pheasant enclosure is adjacent to the one for the peafowls.

“There are eight bird enclosures in the infested area, including the one where six peafowls died between December 16 and 23. The lab test reports from National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal, and Regional Disease Diagnostic laboratory (RDDL), Kolkata, had confirmed the six deaths due to avian influenza (H5N1 virus),” Amit said and added that Dr S Nandi and Dr Karikanand from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) at Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh visited the zoo on Saturday and inspected the area.

“They will chalk out plans on Sunday to contain the virus. The samples of the two dead birds have been sent to the NIHSAD for confirmation of suspected bird flu. The carcasses were buried deep underground,” he said.

Under the ongoing serum surveillance, the experts of state animal husbandry department collected fresh samples of more than 400 birds, including domestic and poultry birds, in the 9km radius of Patna zoo as well as from Mubarakpur and Gorhu villages in Munger district where bird flu cases were reported earlier.

Animal husbandry department director Vinod Singh Gunjiyal said the fresh samples of birds’ droppings, feathers or the body parts were collected and sent to Bhopal’s laboratory. “The serum surveillance will continue till. We will send the samples four times at 15 days interval,” he said.