90 samples of migratory birds, poultry collected in Mandi

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Mandi, December 22

The Animal Husbandry Department has collected nearly 90 samples of migratory birds and poultry from various parts of the district following the outbreak of bird flu in Chandigarh.

Dr Ranjiv Kapoor, Assistant Director, Disease Investigation (DI) Laboratory, Mandi, and Dr Jeevan Lal Sharma, Assistant Director (Extension), said the samples had been collected from backyard poultry, poultry farms, live bird markets and water bodies.

The samples will be tested at the Regional Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL) at Jalandhar in Punjab for the deadly H5N1 virus.

The department has been keeping an eye on all activities in the area and there was no need to panic, as no suspected case of bird flu had come to the fore so far, they said.

Dr KK Sharma, Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry Department, Mandi, said seven teams had been constituted for each subdivision to strengthen and intensify avian influenza surveillance in the district.

Dr Sharma said all senior veterinary officers had been directed to keep a strict vigil on the entry of live birds at check posts and along areas frequented by migratory birds including Pandoh Dam, Gobind Sagar Dam, Dehar, BBMB Lake, Sundernagar, Beas river near Victoria Bridge, Mandi, Rewalsar Lake etc.

He said the sample of any bird dying in suspicious circumstances would be immediately sent to the DI Laboratory which would then submit the samples to RDDL, Jalandhar.

The department had also sought the help of the district administration to carry out sampling of poultry being sold in the open market as it was being procured from Chandigarh and neighbouring areas of Haryana and Punjab.

Panic spread in the area after a goose at Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh was tested positive for the bird flu virus. On December 18, the Central Government notified the outbreak of avian influenza in ducks and geese at the Sukhna Lake and the area was sanitised to prevent further spread of the infection.