NE states sound alert for bird flu, no case reported yet

Guwahati/Agartala/Kohima, Jan 8 : The northeast is on alert following the outbreak of bird flu (H5N8) in some Indian states though there is no report of the disease affecting chickens or any other birds in any of the eight states of the region, officials said on Friday.
Officials in Guwahati, Kohima, Agartala and Shillong said that though no bird flu cases have been found, an alert has been sounded as a precautionary measure. Most state governments including Assam have temporarily banned the import of poultry and poultry products from affected states and regions.
The Assam Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department said that the ban was imposed in view of the outbreak of highly pathogenic and contagious disease, which has potential of causing huge loss in terms of mortality and trade of poultry, and “in the interest of preventing escalation of the disease to Assam and other northeastern states”.
The Tripura government has also asked both government and private farms to keep a close vigil to prevent any outside birds entering the complex and not import poultry and poultry products from disease-affected places.
“Following the death of some ducks at a private farm in Bishalgarh under Sepahijala district (in western Tripura), samples were tested at a government laboratory here. The reports of the samples found that the reason for the death of ducks is duck plague disease,” Animal Resources Development Department Director K. Sasikumar told IANS.
Nagaland’s Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services Department official Budhi Lama has requested the public to report any unusual sickness and mortality of poultry birds, ducks and pet birds to the nearest veterinary health centre.