PARADIP: Panic gripped Paradip, Kujang and Erasama areas on Saturday after the mass death of crows was found to have been caused by avian influenza. The officials of Health and Animal Husbandry issued an alert in the rural areas and asked the poultry farm owners to take precautionary measures to prevent infection of H5N1 virus.
Surveillance has been imposed to check sale and transportation of birds and eggs from the farms in these areas. On Friday, the Animal Diseases Research Institute (ADRI), which had collected samples of three dead crows, confirmed detection of H5N1. Three teams, led by ADRI Research Officer Mihir Kumar Nayak, visited the affected areas and collected samples of nearly 107 crows and live birds. These samples were submitted to ADRI where those tested negative for avian influenza.