As many as 4357 migratory birds have died till now due to the bird flu at Pong wetland in Himachal’s Kangra district.
“With carcasses of 122 more migratory birds found at Pong wetland till afternoon, the death toll of birds reached 4357 due to avian influenza- H5N1. There is a drastic decline in the number of dead birds found in the Pong Dam Wildlife Sanctuary now,” said a senior official of the Wildlife wing of Forest Department, Himachal while talking to The Pioneer.
He said that the situation is being closely monitored and analyzed. Most of the dead birds stuck in the inaccessible swampy areas at Pong have been retrieved and the area is cleared of carcasses, the official said.
He said that active surveillance of Avian Influenza is being done in the Wildlife Sanctuary area by rapid response teams and monitored from a control room at Nagrota Surian.
The situation seems to be under control. Recent mortality numbers of migratory birds are showing a declining trend continuously for the last two days. The control and containment measures to deal with the bird flu outbreak in Pong wetland continued for the 15th day, the official added.
It was on Monday last week when the bird flu was confirmed in carcasses of migratory birds found dead at Pong Wetland.
Not only migratory birds, but crows have also died in various parts of the state. Till date, 215 native birds have been found dead in various parts of Himachal.
1000 dead domestic poultry birds were also found dumped in Dharampur sub division of district Solan.
It is for the first time that bird flu has been reported at the Pong wetland which hosts more than one lakh winged guests during winter season.
All the wetlands including Renuka wetland, which hosts migratory birds every year, wildlife sanctuaries and zoos in the state have been put on bird flu alert. Notably, humans can get infected by H5N1 only upon close interaction with infected live or dead birds, or H5N1-contaminated environments. If infected, humans tend to fall severely ill and also require hospitalisation.
