The Jharkhand government is on high alert after bird flu cases were confirmed in Ranchi. Over 4,000 birds have been culled, with more to be culled in the coming days.
The Jharkhand government on Wednesday sounded an alert after multiple cases of bird flu, also called Avian flu, were reported in a state-run poultry farm in Ranchi.
Around 4000 birds, including chickens, were culled, and hundreds of eggs were also destroyed after the cases were confirmed at the Regional Poultry Farm in Hotwar in the state capital, officials said.
The sale of chicken, birds, and eggs has been banned in a 1-kilometre area from the place of outbreak of the avian flu.
The culling of remaining poultry at the Regional Poultry Farm will be conducted in the coming days and will be disposed of through scientific methods, an order detailing Standard Operating Procedures, issued by the government, stated.
Officials have been directed to conduct a survey within a radius of 1 kilometre from the epicentre to find infections and proceed with culling. They have also been asked to make a map of the 10 km area and mark it as a surveillance zone.
“There will be a complete ban on buying and selling until further orders. The district administration team is going door-to-door in the 1 km of affected area and surveying the availability of birds/eggs, etc. The houses/shops/carts, etc., which have the above material, will cooperate with the survey team and ensure that they give information about the birds/eggs, etc., and hand them over for culling,” the order stated.