Bilaspur, March 25 At least 4,400 chickens have died following an outbreak of bird flu (avian influenza) at a state-run poultry farm in Bilaspur district, Chhattisgarh, prompting authorities to intensify surveillance within a 10-kilometre radius, officials said.
Dr GS Tanwar, a joint director of the Veterinary Department, said on Tuesday that around 4,400 chickens died due to the viral infection at the government poultry farm in the Koni area between March 19 and 24.
A total of 5,037 chickens were housed at the facility, he said.
Samples from the dead birds were sent on Monday to laboratories in Bhopal and Pune. The Bhopal lab has confirmed the presence of avian influenza in the dead chickens, Tanwar informed.
Following the confirmation, District Collector Sanjay Agrawal issued immediate directives for containment and prevention under the Revised Action Plan for Prevention and Containment of Avian Influenza (2021), an official statement said.
A one-kilometre radius of the farm has been declared as an 'infected zone', and a 10 km radius as a 'surveillance zone', it said.
According to the protocol, poultry birds, feed, and eggs will be destroyed within the 'infected zone', and their movement will be completely banned. Compensation will be provided by the Animal Husbandry Department to poultry bird owners for this.
After completing the culling process, the farm will be sealed.
Rapid Response Teams have been formed to carry out the culling of infected birds, safe disposal, surveillance, and sanitisation measures in the affected area, the statement said.
Warning signboards will be installed, and strict monitoring will be enforced on the movement and sale of poultry in these areas. Culling and disposal operations will be conducted as per government guidelines, with coordination between the revenue, police, urban administration, and panchayat departments, it said.
Health monitoring of poultry farm workers is also being undertaken. Any individual showing symptoms will be tested, and antiviral medication will be provided if required, it said.
Officials have also directed continuous monitoring of poultry sale centres across the district.
The district magistrate has appealed to people not to pay attention to rumours and to cooperate with authorities while maintaining vigilance.
No cases of infection in humans have been reported so far, officials added.
Bird flu or avian flu is a type of viral infection that spreads in birds and some mammals.