BHUBANESWAR: Even as no poultry bird death has been reported in the Capital, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has put in place a mechanism to combat the situation in case of a bird flu outbreak. The BMC on Tuesday decided to keep a dedicated surveillance mechanism in coordination with line departments of the State Government within the City limits to check the spread of bird flu.
Municipal Commissioner Dr Krishan Kumar, while chairing a meeting on preparedness to combat bird flu, said adequate surveillance is being conducted and medicines have been stocked as per the standard operating procedure. Till date, no poultry bird has been found dead in the City, he said. On Monday, five blood samples were collected from dead crows in Salia Sahi and sent to Animal Disease Research Laboratory, Phulanakhara for test.
The samples will be sent to Bhopal-based High Security Animal Disease Laboratory for confirmatory tests and analysis. On the day, Fisheries and Animal Resources Development (FARD) Department found 12 dead crows near Khandia Park in Unit-3 Market area following which three rapid response teams (RRTs) were rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.
The RRTs are collecting blood samples from poultry birds and looking into the cases of suspected deaths. On the day, the RRTs collected 28 samples from Salia Sahi. Meanwhile, Health and Family Welfare Department has adequately stocked Tamiflu, the medicine required to treat Bird Flu.