AYODHYA: Amid fears of bird flu outbreak, the Ayodhya district administration was jolted into action on Saturday after panicked residents tipped off officials about three dead crows in Bhadarsa area of the district. A top district official, quoting eyewitnesses said, few crows dropped dead around noon.
Ayodhya chief veterinary officer S K Singh confirmed to TOI about avian deaths in the district. “We have kept the crow carcasses in a biosecurity setup and constituted a threemember panel of veterinary doctors to ascertain cause of deaths. We will submit a report after autopsy and laboratory tests on Sunday,” he said.
After word spread about crow deaths, poultry farmers in the district were on the edge about a possible culling exercise. Ram Kumar, a poultry farmer in Bikapur area of the district said, “I have 4,000 chickens in my farm. Our livelihoods will be hit if there’s a bird flu outbreak. When we were trying to recover from losses of the pandemic-induced lockdown, another calamity may hit us.”
Talking to TOI, Dr Subodh Sachan, avian expert at Narendra Dev University of Agriculture and Technology, said, “A test for bird flu should be conducted on crow carcasses and samples can be sent to laboratories in Central Avian Research Institute, Bareilly or NIHSAD Bhopal. The bird flu virus is pathogenic for humans. However, we have to wait for the post-mortem report and laboratory tests.”