JAGATSINGHPUR: Following an outbreak in Paradip, bird flu scare spread in Allipingal panchayat and other areas of Jagatsinghpur district as crows dropped dead mysteriously on Friday.Panic gripped villagers of Allipingal after carcasses of nearly 15 crows were recovered from the panchayat. Recently, 250 crows had died due to bird flu or H5N1 virus in Paradip.On being informed, senior officials of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary departmnts responded swiftly and put in place several preventive measures to check the spread of the disease in the area. The district administration is on its toes to tackle the situation, sources said.
Villagers have been instructed against handling the dead crows without gloves and to bury the carcasses of the birds in deep pits so that the disease cannot spread to more areas. Chief District Veterinary Officer Ramesh Chandra Behera said the cause of crow deaths might be the use of pesticide in agriculture fields and contaminated water. An official has been asked to study the cause of the deaths. “Veterinary officials have also been pressed into service to create awareness among locals on ways to handle the dead birds. There is no need to panic,” he added.
As per reports, crows are dying under mysterious circumstances in different areas of the district. Last month, dead crows were recovered in Kujang and Jagatsinghpur town. However, officials of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary departments initially did not attach any importance to the bird deaths, sources said. It may be recalled that after detection of bird flu in Paradip, Veterinary department had declared 1-10 km radius of Sandhkuda and Badapadia areas as ‘surveillance zone’. Besides, 1 km radius area was also declared as ‘infected zone’. So far, a total of 1,823 birds have been culled and 2,109 eggs destroyed. The district administration has also restricted entry of poultry-related products to infected areas for 90 days from March 6.