A total of eight Rapid Response Teams (RRT) having 10 members each started the process of culling of birds in Mehrma block of Godda district on Thursday after positive readings of Avian Influenza (AI) in the area.
Director, Animal Husbandry, Chitaranjan Kumar said, “We had sent samples from each district for confirmation of bird flu (H5N1) of which the one from Fajilkhutahari village of Godda came in positive.
A team from the centre has arrived at the district to conduct surveillance and take necessary steps. Action is being taken by the district administration as prescribed under the Government of India’s action plan, 2015.â€
The samples were sent to National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal which confirmed AI in Fajilkhutahari village of Godda. Following this a directive was issued to the Chief Secretary of Jharkhand by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare to carry out control and containment operations as per the action plan of animal husbandry for preparedness, control and containment of avian influenza, 2015. The various steps to be taken includes declaration of infected and surveillance areas, restricting access to the infected premises, destruction of birds, disposal of dead birds and infected materials, clean-up and disinfection followed by sealing of the premises and issue of sanitization certificate and others.
Based on the guidelines of the action plan, district administration has notified the names of all such villages within one kilometre radius of the site confirmed of AI as infected zone while the area from one kilometre to 10 kilometre radius has been notified as surveillance zone.
Sub divisional officer (SDO) of Mahagama, Banka Ram, informed that seven villages have been identified as infected zones including Falilkhutahari, Meghachasar, Shobhapur, Tarkurwa, Bhalu, Barari and Sukhari.
“Meghachasar is the biggest commercial area with a huge number of non-vegetarian items being sold here so the culling of birds started here,†he said. Ram informed that the shopkeepers were paid Rs 70 per unit for chicken, Rs 130 per unit for duck and Rs 3 per egg before the birds were destroyed.
Meanwhile, the health department released an awareness advertisement regarding both AI and Swine Flu on Thursday, which will be out in newspapers on Friday.
"The awareness message informs citizens about the symptoms of both bird flu and swine flu and dos and don'ts," said Dr. Rakesh Dayal, State Surveillance Officer, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).
Dayal informed that people need not worry about the disease as not a single case of AI has been detected in human. "The cases have only been detected in birds and transmission from birds to human is extremely rare," he said.
He further informed that health screening of villagers in the affected village has already been done and no suspected case has been found. "People have been directed not to handle dead birds if they come across one to avoid getting infected," Dayal said.
In another instance, AI was also found in a crow sample sent from Gomiya block of Bokaro. Bokaro Deputy Commissioner, Shailesh Chaurasia said, “While AI was confirmed in crows, we sent a chicken sample as well and the reports for that came out negative so there is nothing to worry about. Had the chicken sample been positive, we would have issued an alert.â€
