Madhya Pradesh: After crows, poultry samples test positive for bird flu

Two samples of poultry tested positive for the avian influenza virus in two districts of Madhya Pradesh on Thursday, said an official from the animal husbandry department. This is the first instance of bird flu in poultry in the state.

The district administrations of Indore and Neemuch sent samples of poultry to the laboratory of National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal on Wednesday and the positive reports came on Thursday, said JN Kansotia, principal secretary, animal husbandry department.

Though the virus found in the poultry is H8N as per the institute’s report, Kansotia said the exact strain (whether N5 or N1 or some other strain) was yet to be known.

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The state government issued an order to shut poultry shops within a radius of 1km of the affected areas in Indore and Neemuch for seven days, as per Kansotia.

However, in Neemuch, the district administration decided to order the closure of all meat and eggs shops in the district and sent more samples of poultry to Bhopal for a test.

“Two days ago, 40 crows were found dead in Neemuch but bird flu is yet to be confirmed in the crows. As a precautionary measure, we ordered closing of all the meat and eggs shops in Neemuch,” said Jittendra Singh Raje, district collector, Neemuch.

Bird flu was confirmed in crows in 11 districts of MP. The H5N8 strain of Avian influenza caused the death of more than 700 crows in MP, according to animal husbandry department’s data.

The state government has set up a central control room at State Disease Investigation Lab of Animal Husbandry department at Bhopal with the phone number 0755-2767583 . Another control room at the state level has been set up in the directorate of animal husbandry department with the phone number 0755-2270279, as per an official release.