By Ahmad Adil
NEW DELHI (AA) – The avian flu has spread to more states in India, as well as to the capital city New Delhi, officials said on Monday.
Delhi and Maharashtra, with a population of more than 114 million, are now among the nine states in the country that have reported the presence of bird flu, prompting authorities to cull thousands of birds and taking more measures to curb its spread.
As of Sunday, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said the disease has been reported in Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh states, as well.
However, tests have now confirmed that the disease has spread to other areas as well.
Thousands of birds have been culled after it was confirmed that the disease was found in ducks, crows, and wild geese. The outbreak has now caused alarm to the poultry industry, as the general public in many parts of India has begun to avoid chicken and eggs.
The Indian government has formed teams to monitor the situation in the affected areas of the country, with officials saying that the standard operating procedure for "control and containment" of the disease is being followed.
Dr. Chandel, a senior official of Animal Husbandry in Maharashtra, told Anadolu Agency that reports sent to their lab from Parbhani city have confirmed the bird flu. "The bird flu has been found present in the samples of poultry birds there," he said, adding that the culling process is also underway.
He said that so far, Maharashtra has confirmed avian flu from one place only.
In the national capital New Delhi, officials on Monday morning too confirmed the presence of the avian flu.
"Eight samples of dead birds which were taken have been found positive for bird flu," the Delhi Animal Husbandry Department Director Dr Rakesh Singh told Anadolu Agency.
The Delhi government has already announced the closure of the Ghazipur wholesale poultry market for 10 days as a precautionary measure and has banned the import of live birds into the capital.
Officials have also closed several parks in the national capital.
The northern Haryana state has recorded nearly 400,000 deaths of poultry birds in the district of Panchkula, all suspected from the flu, officials said. On Friday, officials confirmed samples of the H5N8 strain in the poultry samples.
– COVID-19 cases
India on Monday morning recorded 16,311 new COVID-10 cases and 161 deaths in the last 24 hours.
"India's daily new fatalities have also declined substantially. Less than 170 daily deaths were recorded after 229 days,” a statement said.
