Punjab Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan on Friday directed theAnimal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries department to keep a strictvigil over the Avian influenza known as bird flu in common parlance.
These directions came after a suspected case of bird flureported at Evergreen Poultry Farm of village Behra in District SAS Nagar.
Reviewing the situation, the Chief Secretary asked theAnimal Husbandry department to ensure proper disposal of carcass and furtherincrease surveillance around water bodies, live bird markets, zoos and poultryfarms.
After recieving the report of suspected case from NorthernRegional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (NRDDL), Jalandhar, ACS AnimalHusbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries Mr. Vijay Kumar Janjua apprised theChief Secretary that the Department hassent the sample to National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases(NIHSAD), Bhopal for confirmation.
He further informed that culling of infected birds isunderway at Alpha Poultry Farm of village Behra and 5-member based 25 teams ofthe Animal Husbandry Department has culled the 11200 infected birds on firstday and the culling would be started at Royal Poultry Farm located in the samevillage in coming days. The teams engaged in culling operations has beenprovided with personal protectiveequipments.
Urging the people to follow the guidelines issued by theAnimal Husbandry Department, the Chief Secretary said that chicken and otherpoultry products are safe to consume when cooked properly and do not eat rawpoultry meat or eggs.
She asked the department to ensure standard protocols forBio-security measures followed strictly by the Poultry farmers and attendingstaff should be provided with protective gears. She also instructed theconcerned departments to build awareness among people and avoid the spread ofmisinformation.