PUNE: Over 4,933 poultry birds have been found dead in four farms at Navapur in Nandurbar district during the past two days in the first case of this magnitude in commercial poultry farms in Maharashtra.
In 2006, Navapur was the epicentre of avian influenza outbreak in the state.
“Avian influenza is suspected to be the cause of the death. Samples have been sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal for confirmation, ” Maharashtra animal husbandry commissioner Sachindra Pratap Singh told TOI on Friday.
Bird deaths in Maharashtra in the past two days have also spiked suddenly to 1,000-3,000 a day after a recent lull. Officials, however, attributed the rise to the huge poultry mortalities in Navapur
This is the first instance of this magnitude since the outbreak began this time in terms of the sheer number of poultry deaths at a single location in the state.
“Navapur is known for layer poultry farming. This refers to the practice of raising egg laying poultry birds for the purpose of commercial egg production. We received an intimation on Thursday that there were huge bird mortalities in Navapur. But the entrepreneurs had earlier hid this fact from the authorities,” Singh said.
Another official said, “The entrepreneurs told us that they had thought the deaths were a result of Newcastle disease, a contagious and often fatal ailment that affects over 250 bird species worldwide. But it is mandatory to report such suspected deaths at a time when sporadic bird flu cases are being reported from the state."
The animal husbandry department has filed a first information report (FIR) against the affected poultry entrepreneurs in Navapur on the charges of concealing the suspected deaths. The FIR was lodged under the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act 2009, under which reporting such deaths is obligatory for the officials to take appropriate preventive measures.
Animal husbandry department officials said four such layer farms in Navapur have been affected. There are around 25 layer poultry farms in Navapur. The Nandurbar district collector recently formed a team to assess the number of poultry birds’ deaths in Navapur.