Bird Flu Confirmed In Cuttack; 400 Birds Culled, 6000 Eggs Destroyed

Cuttack: More than 400 birds were culled and 6,000 eggs destroyed at the Livestock Breeding and Dairy Farm in Cuttack city by a veterinary team after the Animal Resources Development (ARD) confirmed a bird flu outbreak.

Talking to mediapersons on Sunday, a senior ARD official said that following regular reports, for about a week, of ducks and hen dying at a farm, the Animal Disease Research Institute (ADRI) at Phulnakhara, on the outskirts of the city, sent stool and blood samples of the dead birds to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal for tests.

After the institute confirmed presence of H1N1 virus, an ARD team led by the chief district veterinary officer (CDVO) went to the farm at Khapuria in Khan Nagar area of the city on Friday night and culled over 400 birds and destroyed about 6,000 eggs.

He said acting on the directive of district collector Arvind Agrawal, who had convened an emergency meeting on March 30, a team of ARD officials led by CDVO Loknath Behera went to several poultry shops within a km radius of the farm on Sunday and culled several birds and destroyed eggs.

“Keeping the bird flu outbreak in view, the district administration has advised people living within a kilometre of the affected area to stay away from bird meat and eggs for at least three months,” he said.

The official further said that ARD staff are now collecting stool and blood samples of birds living within a 10km radius of the farm at Khapuria.

As informed by the chief district medical officer (CDMO), the health department will conduct a random blood test of people living within a kilometre-radius of the bird-flu affected area to ascertain presence of H1N1 virus.