Conduct sero survey of poultry birds: Haryana to district-level vet officers

A DAY after collecting mass samples of dead poultry birds for ruling out the possibility of bird flu, the Haryana animal husbandry and dairying department Sunday issued an alert instructing all the district-level veterinary officers to conduct sero survey of the poultry birds in their respective areas.

The sero survey includes extraction of blood samples, nozzle samples and samples of the waste of birds from different areas.

The alert was issued following the death of thousands of birds in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Dr Anil Banwala, deputy director, animal husbandry and dairying department, said, “We have issued the alert following the reported death of thousands of birds in different parts of India. We have been conducting sero survey for the last many years. But today a strict advisory was issued to conduct the survey in all the districts. The forest and wildlife department was also alerted about taking care of migratory birds at the selected places.”

Lakhs of poultry birds were found dead in the last couple of days at Barwala near Panchkula. On Saturday, a high-level team collected the samples and sent them to the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL), Jalandhar.

Panchkula Deputy Commissioner Mukesh Kumar Ahuja said, “The report of the samples is expected to come tomorrow night. We cannot make any comment on the possibility of bird flu at this stage. Indeed, this time the mortality rate of poultry birds in Barwala area is abnormal.”

There are around 110 poultry farms in the Barwala belt of Panchkula.

The mass mortality of poultry birds was reported in around two dozen poultry farms. This has been going on since December 5.

Although senior officers declined to report any symptoms of bird flu, they said a lot will depend on the findings of RDDL, Jalandhar. The laboratory takes 48 to 72 hours for releasing the forensic results.

The RDDL, Jalandhar, is one of the top vet laboratories to ascertain any kind of virus, including bird flu in the birds, after High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, Bhopal.