NEW DELHI: Bird flu cases have been reported in several states across India severely impacting winged populations
as they test positive for H5N1 avian influenza.
Union animal husbandry and dairying minister Giriraj Singh on Monday urged people to not pay heed to rumours about bird flu.
He said there is no risk to humans if the animal or poultry products are cooked properly before consuming.
Cases of bird flu have been confirmed by Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Delhi in the county.
The ministry on Sunday said that the central teams formed for monitoring the spread of bird flu are visiting the affected sites.
Bird flu scare has also resulted in a substantial loss in the poultry business across India.
Maharashtra
Sparking huge concerns, bird-flu has entered Maharashtra in a big way with samples of chicken, crows, parrots, Herons and Pond Egrets have tested positive for the virus in Maharashtra.
The spread includes hens and Herons in Parbhani; crows in Mumbai, Ratnagiri and Beed; Pond Egret and Parrots in Thane.
Around 900 hens have died in Parbhani district. Nearly 8,000 birds in Murumba village were culled. On Saturday around 900 hens had died at a poultry farm, run by a Self-Help Group (SHG) in Murumba village.
Contrary to rumours there is no ban on the sale of poultry products like eggs or chicken as of now and the state government is in a state of high alert.
Delhi
Delhi on Monday confirmed bird flu cases after eight samples sent to a Bhopal-based laboratory tested positive for avian influenza.
All eight samples -- four from a park in Mayur Vihar Phase 3, three from Sanjay Lake and one from Dwarka -- have been found positive for avian influenza.
But only samples of duck from Sanjay Lake have tested positive for bird flu, said state authorities.
The Delhi government has banned the sale of processed and packaged chicken brought from outside the city. Import of live birds has also been banned. Ghazipur poultry market will remain closed for ten days starting Sunday.
Gujarat
Bird flu cases have been confirmed in Gujarat's Surat and Vadodara districts. Samples of four crows collected from two places at Bardoli taluka in Surat tested positive for the bird flu.
Besides, three out of five crow samples collected from Vasantpura village in Savli taluka of Vadodara, where 25 crows died on January 6, have also tested positive.
On Sunday, 57 pigeons were found dead in Kia village of Vadodara and their samples were sent to the Bhopal lab.
Gujarat reported its first case of avian influenza on January 8 when two lapwing samples from Junagadh district tested positive for the bird flu virus.
Uttarakhand
Twenty-six crows and one pigeon were found dead at the premises of AIIMS in Rishikesh on Sunday in Uttarakhand.
Forest department officials collected samples of dead birds.
Earlier, there were sporadic reports of the sudden death of birds in other areas of the state.
A large number of crows were found dead in Bombay Bagh area in Dehradun following that six in Gandhigram, one in Bengali Kothi area and 10 crows in Doiwala in the state.
As many as 165 birds died in a single day in Dehradun. The samples of birds have been sent to the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) Bareilly.
Madhya Pradesh
Bird flu is causing the deaths of crows in Madhya Pradesh gripping at least 18 districts in the state.
Bird flu has been confirmed in crows and wild birds in 18 districts -- Indore, Mandsaur, Agar, Neemuch, Dewas, Ujjain, Khandwa, Khargone, Guna, Shivpuri, Rajgarh, Shajapur, Vidisha, Bhopal, Hoshangabad, Ashoknagar, Datia and Barwani.
A total of 328 samples from various districts have been sent to the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) for examination. The bird flu virus was not found in samples sent from Alirajpur district.
Transportation of poultry products from Kerala and other south Indian states has been banned. Poultry business has been closed for a week at the identified places in Indore, Neemuch and Agar-Malwa districts.
Odisha
The Odisha government on Sunday said that a total of 12,369 samples of birds have been collected and no sample has tested positive for Avian Influenza so far.
Poultry farm owners, poultry meat and egg shop owners, and other poultry farmers are requested to remain vigilant and keep the premises of farms, shops, and poultry houses clean and maintain hygiene.
On January 7 in Govindpur village of Badaberana Gram of Khordha District, around 120 poultry birds have been reported dead. Five of the dead birds have been taken to the laboratory for examination.
All five samples tested negative for the avian influenza virus.
Uttar Pradesh
The Lucknow Zoo, known as the Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Garden, has shut down all bird enclosures following confirmation of bird flu in samples collected from the Kanpur zoo.
Meanwhile, in Bareilly, arrangements to provide drinking water to migratory birds have been shut and reflectors are being installed at the Central Avian Research Institute (CARI).
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also directed officials to remain alert in view of the bird-flu cases reported from various parts of the country.
(With inputs from agencies)