TAD NewsDesk, Haryana: With the threat of bird flu on rise, Haryana’s Panchkula region is ready to cull 1.60 lakh poultry birds.
Agriculture Minister JP Dalal said they had sent samples from two Panchkula poultry farms to Bhopal for testing.
He said,
“Five samples of Siddharth Poultry Farm at Kheri village in Raipur Rani block of Panchkula tested positive for H5N8 strain of avian flu.”
Similarly, samples of some birds from Nature Poultry Farm at Ganauli village tested positive, he said, adding that it necessitated the culling of birds at poultry farms within 1 km of both establishments.
Moreover, he added that the minister said the state government has constituted 59 teams for the drive and owners of the poultry farm will be given compensation of ₹ 90 per bird. The state government has also declared the area within 1-km radius of the two poultry farms as “infected zone” and the area from 1 km to 10 km as “surveillance zone”.
The state took quick steps and placed a clinical investigation following the death of the birds in the state and hence this decision has been taken afterwards.
Mr Dalal said though this bird flu strain (Avian Influenza–H5N8) is less pathogenic, the state government has issued a notification for the affected poultry farms of Panchkula as a precautionary measure.
Also to prevent the spread of the disease, check-posts have been set up in the infected areas.
Mr Dalal said the state Health Department will monitor the health of employees and owners of the infected poultry farms.
The employees will be examined by the Health Department and will be given anti-viral medicines, he added.
In an instruction to the consumers of poultry products, the minister advised them to ensure that all parts of the poultry are fully cooked (no “pink” parts) and that eggs, too, are properly cooked (no “runny” yolks).
With these instructions and corrective measures taken at the right time, the state is trying to put out any fires which could occur by the spread of this bird influenza.
Source: NDTV
