732 more bird deaths in Maharashtra, toll touches 14K

The number of bird deaths in Maharashtra is on a continuous rise. On Friday, 732 more bird deaths, including those of 624 poultry birds, were reported in the state. The toll has reached 14,524 since January 8, when the first set of bird deaths were reported in the state.

Bhopal’s ICAR-National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases (ICAR-NIHSAD), has confirmed bird flu to be the reason behind deaths of poultry birds in 11 districts. Till Friday, the state has culled a total of 39,483 poultry birds and eight ducks and destroyed 35,515 eggs and 53,046 kg of poultry feed.

Of the 626 poultry birds found dead, 198 deaths were reported from Jalgaon, 118 at Yavatmal, 115 in Beed, 54 at Palghar, 33 in Amravati, 29 from Gondia, 20 in Nagpur, 17 at Jalna, nine in Hingoli, eight each at Raigad and Nanded, five in Satara, four each at Nashik and Osmanabad, three in Pune and one in Ahmednagar.

The state animal husbandry department also found 69 other birds, including herons, sparrows and parrots dead in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Ratnagiri, Pune, Satara, Beed, Nanded, Akola and Wardha. The samples of these birds are sent to ICAR-NIHSAD to confirm if bird flu is the cause behind the deaths, said animal husbandry commissioner Sachindra Pratap Singh.

Meanwhile, the state government has approved ₹1.3 crore to provide compensation to poultry farm owners who were affected owing to the avian influenza, state animal husbandry minister Sunil Kedar said. “All those who had faced losses owing to culling process will be compensated in phases,” said Kedar.