Bird flu strikes Agartala duck farm by Gargi Parsai

Bird flu has struck the country again. This time in the State Duck Breeding Farm in Agartala that has been ordered to cull all poultry within a radius of 3 km of the farm. The State will also impose a ban on movement of poultry and its products and order closure of all poultry egg market and outlets within a radius of 10 km.

With this incidence, India has lost the bird flu-free status it acquired in June 2, 2010. It will now inform international authorities of the development.

The Centre advised the Tripura government to cull all birds on the farm after the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal confirmed that samples collected from the farm tested positive for H5 strain of Avian Influenza. The State government had reported “unusual deaths” of poultry on February 15.

The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying under the Ministry of Agriculture asked the State government to not only cull the birds on the affected farm but also destroy eggs and feed material “without any delay” to control further spread of the disease.

The department has urged the State authorities to intensify surveillance to monitor any further spread and send a daily report of containment operations.