AHMEDABAD: The fear of bird flu took flight in Narol gam after the number of dead pigeons in the area doubled to 190 in just two days. This is the highest number of bird deaths that have taken place in one area following an outbreak of bird flu in the state, said officials.
Dead pigeons began raining down near Akruti Township in Narol early on Wednesday. By afternoon, the number of dead birds touched 95 and rose to 190 on Thursday.
Dr Rajendra Patel, assistant director of animal husbandry department handling Ahmedabad district, said, “Around 190 pigeons were found dead in Narol in a suspected case of bird flu. We have discarded the carcasses as per protocols and sanitized the area. We have sent samples from two carcasses to Bhopal-based National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory to ascertain the cause of death.”
The officials said that avian flu is a highly infectious respiratory disease caused in birds by the influenza virus. “We have not conducted a post-mortem examination yet. We will do so only if the samples sent to Bhopal test negative for bird flu,” he said.
Gujarat first reported a bird flu outbreak in January after samples taken from dead birds in Batva in Junagadh tested positive.
Later, bird flu cases were also reported from Surat, Vadodara and Valsad districts, where samples of dead crows tested positive for the virus.
After dead birds were spotted in Narol, officials carried out a search of poultry farms in the vicinity for largescale death of birds. However, the department has found no such incidents.