Government organises bird flu awareness campaign in J-K

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], April 23 (ANI): With several parts of Jammu and Kashmir reporting bird flu cases an awareness campaign was organised by the Department of Animal Husbandry in the Union Territory.
On Friday, Chief Animal Husbandry Officer, Srinagar organised a camp in the Nishat area, in which several livestock breeders showed a keen interest.
Speaking to ANI, poultry farmer Altaf Ahmad said, "Bird flu is a very dangerous disease. We also got to know about the diseases that infect us. I hope that such programs continue. These campaigns should be taken to villages also. In order to save lives, we should know which diseases of the animals affect us."
Avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, is a viral infection that affects birds. It can easily spread to domestic poultry and further to humans.
Nazir Ahmad, local resident who was at the awareness campaign said, "They have informed usabout how bird flu spreads from one to another and what precautions should be taken. They also briefed us about the symptoms of bird flu. It was very informative."
Dr. Qurat-ul-Ain, trainer at the bird flu campaign briefed the media person about how poultry farmers can protect their birds.
"We are creating awareness about avian influenza also known as bird flu. We need to aware locals about protecting their birds from coming in contact with migratory birds, because this area sees most migratory birds. Poultry farmers have also joined us today, who have commercial farms. We are telling them how they can save their birds and what precautions should be taken. We also told them about the symptoms that they may see in their birds, post which they have to report us," she said.
Poultry extension officer Srinagar, Dr. Irfan Majeed told ANI that in this "bird flu scare," we want to aware people beforehand about this disease.
The department of animal husbandry, Srinagar also organises such camps in other places of Srinagar to aware people about this flu and how to save animals. They also provide free medicines to counter this flu. In case anyone calls for help an expert team of doctors visits the place and provide all treatments free of cost to the infected animal. (ANI)