While Kerala began culling of chickens and ducks, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu stepped up surveillance and formed guidelines. In kerala, around 1,700 ducks have died due to the flu. In Haryana, over four lakh poultry birds have died at farms in Panchkula district in the past 10 days, officials said, adding a team from Jalandhar's Regional Disease Diagnosis Laboratory has collected samples. In Madhya Pradesh, officials said that 155 dead crows in Indore have been found with the H5N8 strain since the pathogen was first detected in the city a week back, while in Rajasthan, after Jhalwar, birds in Kota and Baran were found with the infection. However, no cases have been reported yet in Maharashtra, which shares borders with Madhya Pradesh. Officials in Himachal Pradesh surveyed the area around the Pong Dam Lake sanctuary in Kangra district to check the spread of the flu to domestic poultry birds, a day after samples of dead migratory birds there tested positive for H5N8.
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4.50 pm: Kerala state government to compensate farmers affected by bird flu
Kerala state government has decided to provide compensation to the farmers who have been affected due to the bird flu. The state government will provide Rs 200 each to owners of birds that are older than 2 months and Rs 100 each for birds less than 1-month-old.
3:25 pm: MP bans chicken trade with some southern states
The Madhya Pradesh government has banned chicken trade with a few southern states for a limited period in view of the bird flu outbreak in parts of MP, a government official said on Wednesday. The official, however, did not specify the states. In the morning, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan reviewed the bird flu situation in the state and directed officials concerned to take necessary preventive measures. Chouhan also directed the officials to step-up vigil at poultries in the districts where bird deaths have been reported.
1:55 pm: Punjab issues advisory for surveillance of poultry farms, wetlands amid bird flu scare
Amid a bird flu scare, authorities in Punjab have alerted officials to keep tabs on any unusual deaths of migratory and poultry birds in the state, officials said on Wednesday. They said no case of bird flu has been reported so far in Punjab. Punjab Animal Husbandry Director Harbinder Singh Kahlon said an advisory has been issued for "surveillance of commercial poultry farms and backyard poultry farms to find any unusual mortality in birds". The advisory has been sent to all 22 deputy directors of the department to ensure regular visit of field staff to commercial and backyard poultry farms in the state, he added. In case any "unusual mortality" in poultry birds is found, samples will be sent to the Northern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL), Jalandhar, to ascertain the cause, the officials said.
12:50 pm: Sanjeev Baliyan, MOS animal husbandry has said cases of bird flu have been reported from five states. The transmission is from the respiratory system. "If culling is required, that'll be done in coordination with states. No medicine is available, but precaution is required. Control room already has been set up and advisories have been sent to states," he said.
12:05 pm: MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan convenes emergency meeting over Bird Flu
The medical education minister, animal husbandry minister and top officials are present in the meeting which is currently underway.
12:00 pm: All transport of poultry and birds from Kerala to Mysore has been stopped due to the bird flu scare. All vehicles coming from Kerala at Bavali check post in Mysore will be sanitised.
11:50 am: Monitor national parks, wetlands where birds flock in view of avian flu: Gehlot to officials
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday instructed officials to maintain special vigil in view of death of crows and other birds due to avian influenza. Chairing a review meeting of the animal husbandry department, he said special focus should be given on monitoring in Keoladeo National Park and other sanctuaries, Sambhar lake and in all such places where birds flock. After bird flu was confirmed in samples of carcasses sent from Jhalawar, avian influenza subtype H5N8, which experts said is less infectious than H5N1 virus, has been detected in Rajasthan's Kota and Baran districts. The state on Tuesday reported deaths of 200 more birds, officials said.