Shimla, Jan,4
The Principal Chief Conservator of Wildlife Archana Sharma said that the state has
received an alert from the centre after initial confirmation of bird flu among the Migratory Birds in Pong dams as nearly 1800 birds have reportedly died of an unknown outbreak.
She said that the state wildlife authority also issued an alert in the Veterinary department to take necessary precautions. Today the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Bareilly of UP indicated the possible cause of death of the Avian Influenza also called Bird Flu, she said.
The state wildlife authority was already on alert to scan the outbreak and had sent samples of the dead birds to various Veterinary labs in the country. Meanwhile Kangra deputy commissioner Rakesh Prajapati has today prohibited slaughtering, sale, purchase and export of any poultry, birds, fish of any breed and their related products including eggs, meat, chicken etc in Fatehpur, Dehra, Jawali and Indora subdivisions of the district.
Exercising his powers under sections 34 of disaster management Act, 2005, Kangra DM further stated that shops selling these products would also remain closed in the above four subdivisions. DC also banned movement of locals, tourists and other humans within one kilometre radius of Pong Dam.
The entire Pong dam bird sanctuary area was declared a containment zone for the outbreak.No human and domestic livestock activities shall be allowed in and around one kilometer of the Pong dam reservoirs till further order (Alert Zone). Next nine km of alert zone would be surveillance zone where in departments shall keep strict vigil and watch. All tourists activities shall be suspended on the dam reservoir still further order. The police force should be deployed for assistance to enforce the required measures and necessary action.
It was about one week ago when birds were found dead in the Dhameta and Nagrota wild life ranges in the state.
Dhameta range reported the sudden death of Bar-Headed Geese and one Common Teal in Fatehpur area.So far Wild Authority recovered the carcass of 1773 birds from the Pong dams area and the operation to search more bodies is continuing. The identification of dead migratory birds shows that around 95 per cent of the victims are Bar headed Geese.
It is worthwhile to mention that the first case of human infection by avian influenza viruses (H5N1) was observed in 1997 in Hong Kong after this large number of outbreaks have been reported in different parts of the world.
The Avian influenza could not spread from man to man like nCoV and other influenza viruses but could spread among man from the birds, claimed the world health organisations.
The health experts warned that it could spread in various species of birds including humans has led to pandemic threat.
Since 2013 there have been 1,568 confirmed human cases and 616 deaths worldwide from the H7N9 strain of avian flu, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
The common precautions of H5N1 is that wash your hands often with warm water and soap, especially before and after handling food, in particular raw poultry. Second jse different utensils for cooked and raw meat. Thirdly make sure meat is cooked until steaming hot and finally avoid contact with live birds and poultry.
