Bird Flu: OUAT Poultry Research Farm In Bhubaneswar Sealed

Bhubaneswar: The Animal Resources Development (ARD) Department sealed the poultry research farm, which had reported cases of bird flu, inside the Veterinary College premises of the Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT) and put up red flags on Tuesday.

The farm was sealed in the presence of the central team members, Chief District Medical Officer (CDVO), Khurda, director, ARD and OUAT officials.

Later, Khurda CDVO issued the sanitation certificate to the ARD Department.

Talking to mediapersons, ARD director Ratnakar Rout said that the sanitation certificate about the measure taken so far to prevent an outbreak of bird flu will be sent to the Centre.

“We have also written a letter to the OUAT dean to take further steps as per the protocol and guidelines of the Centre,” he added.

Stating that the poultry research farm has been sealed for three months, Rout said that a team of the ARD Department will visit the farm in every 15 days to review the situation. “We have also told the OUAT authorities not to rear any bird inside the research farm for one year. The farm will be sealed for one year,” he said.

Notably, the OUAT authorities had confirmed bird flu cases in the poultry research farm on January 27 after the samples of the dead chickens sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal were found positive.

Following the confirmation, the ARD Department had formed 11 Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) to cull chickens in one km radius of the farm.