Bird Flu Scare: ADRI Team To Visit Chilika Lake

Photograph: Sefali Suman

Puri/Khurda: With some crows found dead in Siala forest area under Chilika-Nuapada range and near Alandapatna area of Krushnaprasad block in Puri district recently, an expert team of the Animal Disease Research Institute (ADRI) will visit Chilika Lake on Thursday to ascertain whether migratory birds that have started flocking the lake have Influenza A (H1N1) virus.

Earlier, a joint team of Forest and veterinary officials had gone to Nalabana in the lake and collected stool samples of about 150 migratory birds, besides that of hens and ducks from the lake side villages. So far, the team has sent 308 samples to the ADRI.

Officials sources said if H1N1 virus is found in these samples, these will then be sent to Bhopal for a thorough test.

On the other hand, Chilika Wildlife Division had a meeting on this issue at Balugan earlier on Wednesday in the presence of senior veterinary and forest officials.

The officials apprehended that the recent death of some crows in Krushnaprasad block and some migratory birds along Konark-Chandrabhaga coast could be due to the outbreak of the bird flu.

Informing the media after the meeting, Chief District Veterinary Officer (CDVO) Dr Girija Patnaik said that the sample stools of 500 hens and ducks and the sample of a migratory bird that was found dead along the Chandrabhaga coast have been sent to ADRI. “The report of the ADRI will confirm whether the death was due to the H1N1 virus,” he added.