After Centre issues advisories on bird flu, states undertake public awareness campaign

New Delhi [India], January 14 (ANI): After the Centre issued several advisories on the spread of bird flu across the country, state governments are now undertaking awareness campaigns through newspaper advertisements, social media platforms, in a bid to inform the general public, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (FAHD) informed on Thursday.
The FAHD ministry in a statement said that additional cases of avian influenza among crows have been confirmed in Dangs district of Gujarat. After successfully finishing the culling operations, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have completed sanitization activities.
"In Haryana, samples from four poultry farms have been confirmed to be positive for avian influenza (H5N8). The farms are Maharaja poultry farm in Khatauli; Tara poultry farm, Batour and Singla poultry farm in Mauli village of Panchkula district of Haryana," the Ministry said.
"Following the advisories of the department, states are undertaking awareness generation activities through newspaper advertisements, social media platforms. Also, constant efforts to generate awareness about avian influenza and how to deal with the situation is being shared among the general public through various media platforms including social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook handles," the FAHD said.
The central teams formed for monitoring the situation in the affected areas of the country are visiting the affected sites and conducting epistemological studies. The Department requested the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation to allow uninterrupted transportation of samples for expeditious testing of Avian Influenza in designated laboratories.
In the light of the findings that many states were banning the supply of poultry and poultry products from other states, it was suggested to review such policy as this would add to the negative impact on the poultry industry, the Ministry said.
Further, there is no scientific report available that infection of AI viruses spread through processed products. Consumption of well-cooked chicken and eggs does not pose any risk to humans.
"In view of the reports received from the designated laboratory that samples of commercial poultry from Ghazipur Mandi, Delhi confirmed that these were negative for AI, FAHD Minister, Giriraj Singh emphasized on removing the ban on the sale of poultry and poultry products in a virtual meeting today along with the Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Mayors of MCD Delhi. The Government of NCT of Delhi revoked the aforementioned ban with immediate effect," the FAHD said. (ANI)

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