By IANS
Imphal/New Delhi : Authorities in Manipur began culling hundreds of thousands of poultry as a virulent form of avian influenza was detected in the northeastern state bordering Myanmar. However, the government said that the disease was localised and had been contained.
As many as 132 chickens died earlier this month at a poultry farm in village Chenngmeirong near Manipur capital Imphal, prompting authorities to send samples to laboratories in Bhopal and Pune for tests. The samples were found positive for the H5N1 strain of the "highly pathogenic avian influenza", which led to the cull in a five-km radius around the affected farm.
Health officials in Imphal and in New Delhi said there were no immediate reports of humans contracting the virus although they have put on medication about a dozen workers of the poultry farm where the deaths were reported.
"We have put the workers on Tamiflu and are keeping a close watch on their health status. Health checkups are on and we are monitoring the situation in and around the farm area," a health department official said.
There are an estimated 60,000 people residing in a five km radius from the farm where the virus was reported.
K. Gopal, nodal officer of the Animal Disease Control programme in Manipur said: "The process of culling has already started involving about 20 Rapid Response Teams with five members in each group led by a veterinarian."
"The entire culling process is expected to be completed in about three days as our teams are visiting each and every household in the area," Gopal told IANS.
"We are maintaining strict surveillance on other farms in the state with veterinarians carrying out checks on all poultry," he said.
"Culling of poultry started Thursday after medical examination and briefing of the members of the Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) by health and animal husbandry officials," an agriculture ministry statement said in New Delhi.
The state government Wednesday sounded a general alert across Manipur and banned the sale and purchase of poultry.
A team of central veterinary and health experts from New Delhi is camping in Imphal to help local authorities prevent the virus from spreading.
"All steps are being taken to ensure that the virus is kept under check," said Manipur's veterinary director Th Dorendra Singh.
"We have held several high level meetings and are taking all precautionary measures to see that the virus is not spread to other states. The movement of chicken and other poultry from Manipur has been stopped as a preventive measure," said Partha Jyoti Gogoi, regional director of health and family welfare in Assam.
According to the agriculture ministry, apart from chickens around 28,000 ducks will be culled in the five km radius. Of the estimated 160,000 poultry set to be culled more than 75,000 are owned by individual families.
There has been no reported case of bird flu in other states of the northeast, but the discovery of the virus in Manipur has led to panic in the region with authorities in the adjoining states of Assam, Tripura, Nagaland and Mizoram sounding a general alert.
"We have held several high level meetings and are taking all precautionary measures to see that the virus is not spread to other states. The movement of chicken and other poultry from Manipur has been stopped as a preventive measure," said Partha Jyoti Gogoi, regional director of health and family welfare in Assam.