Authorities on Monday revealed that the first cases of avian influenza commonly known as bird flu were reported from Srinagar district.
Srinagar became the fifth district in Kashmir division where cases of bird flu were reported among crows.
Srinagar district administration tweeted this afternoon that dead crows lifted from the area near Delhi Public School at Athwajan and the Flood Spill Channel at Peerbagh have tested positive for avian influenza – H5N8 strain – as per a report received from the ICAR-NISHAD Bhopal.
“Now in accordance with the stipulated guidelines, a 10-kilometre radius area around each of the said locations has been declared as alert zone — where among other measures surveillance and sampling will be conducted to ascertain and prevent the spread,” it added
On Sunday, several cases of avian flu were reported in Udhampur district of Jammu division among domestic fowls for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
It was for the first time that bird flu has been reported in domestic fowls in Jammu and Kashmir, which had so far reported the avian flu among migratory birds or dead crows only.
On Jan 23, three days after the J&K administration lifted a ban on import of poultry, the central government confirmed four cases of avian flu in dead crows in four districts of Kashmir.
According to an official statement of the central government the “avian flu cases have been confirmed in crows in Anantnag, Pulwama, Budgam and Kulgam districts in Kashmir.”
After confirmation of these cases in Kashmir, the Union Ministry of Animal Husbandry has issued an advisory to be implemented by the J&K administration to contain the spread of this disease.
“Bio security has to be strengthened and disinfection in the entire area where the mortality of birds has been reported, to be carried out in collaboration with the Forest Department. The dead birds should be disposed of by deep burial,” the advisory reads.
“Surveillance of poultry may be intensified in the area. To prevent spread of disease in poultry and humans, earlier guidelines may be adhered to,” it said.
The reports of bird flu cases has hit the poultry sector badly as a result of which the rates of chicken have plummeted leading to huge losses to this sector.