Madhya Pradesh confirms bird flu cases in 8 districts

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], January 7 (ANI): A total of 8 districts have reported confirmed cases of bird flu in Madhya Pradesh, officials said.

"Bird flu has been confirmed in poultry samples from Indore and Neemuch. These samples were taken from chicken shops. Crow samples from Khargone, Guna, Mandsaur, Agar, Dewas, and Khandwa have also come positive," Animal Husbandry Department Director RK Rokde told ANI.

"We have sealed shops within a radius of 1 kilometer in Indore and Neemuch and carrying out sanitisation. Apart from this, surveillance is being done in a 10 km radius," he said.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan informed that he has given directions for surveillance in Indore and Neemuch.
"Bird flu confirmed in 2 cases in Indore and Neemuch, samples were collected from shops. I have given directions that all shops and chicken markets in a radius of 1 km from the highlighted spots be closed for 7 days. Also ordered that surveillance be done in a radius of 10 km," he tweeted.
In view of the bird flu outbreak, the Madhya Pradesh government has banned chicken trade with southern states for the next 10 days.

"We are keeping an eye on bird flu and have issued the guideline for poultry farms. We have banned the supply of chicken from the southern states to Madhya Pradesh for the next 10 days. We are taking precautions," Chouhan said.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying informed that avian influenza has been reported from the four states including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Kerala at 12 epicentres.

Madhya Pradesh Animal Husbandry Minister Prem Singh Patel had earlier said that an alert has been sounded to control the deaths of crows in the state after nearly 400 crows were found dead in 10 districts.
Avian influenza refers to the disease caused by infection with avian (bird) influenza (flu) Type A viruses. These viruses occur naturally among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species. (ANI)