Bird flu was confirmed in poultry samples from Nanded, Solapur, Pune, Ahmednagar, Buldhana, Akola, Nashik and Hingoli districts of Maharashtra; Bhavnagar district of Gujarat and Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh, the ministry said on Wednesday. Further, avian influenza were found in crow in Uttarakhand (Rudraprayag Forest Division), Titar in Junagad(Gujarat) and peacock in Beed (Maharashtra), the ministry confirmed.
The outbreaks of avian influenza were detected in nine states for poultry birds. These states were Kerala, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. In 12 states, bird flu was confirmed for crow or migratory or wild birds. These states included Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, according to ministry of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying.
"Control and containment operations (cleaning and disinfection) are going on in the affected epicentres of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat," the official statement mentioned.
"Surveillance work is continued at the places where positive results have been reported in other species of birds excluding poultry," it further added.
The compensation were paid to the farmers whose poultry birds, eggs and poultry feed have been culled or disposed. "The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD), government of India provides funds to states/ UTs on a 50:50 sharing basis under ASCAD component of its LH & DC Scheme,"
Maharashtra government sanctioned a compensation package of ₹130 lakh for culling of poultry and other birds, eggs and poultry feed and operational cost of disease control within 1 km radius of the infected area, under the Bird Flu Disease Control Program, the ministry added.
Mentioning that the country is effectively controlling the spread of the bird flu, the ministry earlier said the consumption of well cooked chicken and eggs is safe for humans, according to statement released by animal husbandry and dairying. Consumers should not heed to baseless rumours that are unscientific and often lead to confusion, it further added.
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