Avian influenza: 1,400 birds culled in Munger

PATNA: Around 1,400 birds were killed at Mubarakbanj under Asarganj block in Munger district on Friday after the lab test report confirmed that a crow died in the village recently due to avian influenza, commonly referred to as bird flu. A team was also sent to a poultry farm in Bikram block of Patna district on Friday after around 100 chickens reportedly died there.

Munger animal husbandry officer Shravan Kumar Bhagat told TOI that around 1400 poultry and other birds were culled in the 1km radius of the village on Friday. “The birds were taken from poultry firms, chicken shops and houses before culling. The birds were buried as per the stipulated scientific procedure. The culling is being done under the supervision of a joint team of Regional Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL), Kolkata, and National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal,” Bhagat said, adding that the exercise would continue till all the birds in the village were culled.

Incidentally, the presence of H5N1 strain of avian influenza was first detected in Bihar from the viscera of dead birds in six villages of Asarganj block on December 21.

“The samples from Bikram poultry firm have been collected and will be sent to NIHSAD for conducting H5N1 test,” Vinod Singh Gunjyal, director at state husbandry department, told TOI.

Meanwhile, sanitization work continued at Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, also known as Patna zoo, to contain bird flu effect. A statement from the zoo stated that Virkon-S disinfectant was sprayed in the bird enclosures in sector 1 and 2 and near the food godown.

Also, a six-member team from Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare visited the zoo and collected samples of ten birds. The samples will be sent to NIHSAD for H5N1 test.

The zoo has been shut since December 25 following the death of six peafowls due to H5N1 virus.

College of Arts and Crafts at Patna has also been shut since Thursday following the death of eight birds on its premises since January 1. Sources said no fresh carcass of bird was found in the college on Friday.

Animal husbandry department has also collected over 500 samples from city poultry farms and shops as part of a serum surveillance conducted in the 9km radius of Patna zoo to assess the spread of avian influenza virus outside its premises. The samples have been sent to NIHSAD and RDDL.