Bird flu scare reaches Delhi as over 100 crows fall dead

The sudden death of over 100 crows in Delhi’s Mayur Vihar Phase III region amid a nationwide bird flu scare. A team of doctors rushed to the A-2 Central park on Friday after hundreds of crows reportedly fell dead in flight.

The dreaded bird flu or Avian Influenza has been confirmed only in Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh so far, but all states have sounded alarm bells as a precautionary measure.

In Jammu and Kashmir, while the government has claimed that no case of H5N1 (avian influenza) has been detected, several crows died mysteriously in Rajouri district, sparking panic among the residents.

J&K Government on Thursday banned import of poultry as bird flu spreads in neighbouring states.

“In the wake of spread of bird flu in neighbouring states of J&K as a measure of abundant precaution and in view of declaration of whole J&K as “Controlled Area” for bird flu disease. Government of UT J&K imposes complete ban on import of live birds including poultry and unprocessed poultry meet for any purpose into the union territory of J&K with immediate effect, till 14-01- 2021, read a Government order.

In Delhi, a team of two doctors reached the park on Friday to inspect and has collected samples for the laboratory test.

A resident of the area, Tinku Chaudhary, told News18 Hindi that he has been informed by a doctor that the death could be either due to cold and flu. However, that can only be found out after a proper lab test.

Meanwhile, the Residents’ Welfare Association has accused the administration of negligence, claiming that crows have been dying for the past three days now.

The Centre on Wednesday said the Avian influenza outbreak, has been reported at 12 epicentres in four states — Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. Advisories have been issued to contain further spread of the infection in poultry ducks, crows and migratory birds, the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said.

The Secretary in the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying held a meeting with the states to understand the status of the outbreak of avian influenza (bird flu) and to suggest measures for control, containment and prevention of spread of the disease, an official statement said. An unusual mortality of poultry, crows, migratory birds has been reported from Kerala, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

Effective coordination with the state forest departments was also emphasized for immediate reporting of any unusual mortalities in non-domestic birds in forest areas and around water bodies. The Centre has already issued advisories to the affected states regarding increasing and intensifying surveillance for unusual mortality of birds including wild/migratory birds.

It has also established a central control room to strategize, co- ordinate and facilitate state governments with regard to outbreak management, disease control and containment. Moreover, two central teams have been deployed to visit the affected states of Kerala, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh for monitoring and for epidemiological investigation.