Fifty samples collected from poultry farms

Bipin Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 21

The UT Animal Husbandry Department today collected at least 50 samples of birds from poultry farms in Kishangarh and Daria villages and the adjoining areas falling within a 3-km radius of Sukhna Lake.

Citing urgency, the department has requested the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL), Jalandhar, to test the samples for the deadly H5N1 virus at the earliest.

Besides collecting the samples, teams undertook a thorough surveillance and awareness drive in all poultry farms and also interacted with shopkeepers selling poultry and poultry products in Kishangarh, Shastri Nagar in Mani Majra and Sectors 7, 27 and 28. As part of the awareness campaign, they asked residents about any unnatural deaths of birds at their business establishments. They also pasted posters on the dos and dont’s regarding bird flu at public places.

There are three poultry farms in the city that fall within a 3-km radius of the lake where 110 geese were culled on Thursday after a bird tested positive for avian influenza. The test was conducted by the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory, Bhopal, on December 16.

Caretakers of the poultry farms have been directed to sanitize the farm and give proper medicines to the birds. Dr Lovelesh Kant Gupta, Joint Director, Animal Husbandry, said more samples would be taken in the coming days.

Officiating Deputy Commissioner VP Singh said a meeting of the officials concerned was held to take stock of the situation.

Crow carcasses send wildlife officials in a tizzy

Close on the heels of a goose at Sukhna Lake testing positive for bird flu, the spotting of five crow carcasses near Kaushalya Dam in Pinjore yesterday has sent Haryana wildlife officials in a tizzy.

The carcasses, that were found at Dial Mauza village, were sent by the wildlife officials to RDDL, Jalandhar, for testing.

Surinder Rathi, Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife), said all carcasses were sent to Jalandhar. “Preliminary inquiries have revealed that the crows fed on rotten maize grains, but we do not want to take any risk and have sent the carcasses to Jalandhar for testing,” he said.D Vinay Mohan, Joint Director, RDDL, said he had received information in this regard from Haryana wildlife officials.

2 jungle babblers found dead 

Meanwhile, two jungle babblers were found dead in the courtyard of House No. 43, Sector 5, this morning. The house is located adjacent to Sukhna Lake. The birds were buried after officials of the UT Animal Husbandry Department visited the house and assured the residents that the birds had died of cold.