BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Tuesday launched culling operations at the poultry farm of the College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry at the Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT) in the city where a bird flu outbreak was confirmed on Monday.
The Fisheries and Animal Resources Development (F&ARD) department, which declared 1 km radius of the site as an infected zone and 1 to 10 km radius as a surveillance zone, has formed 12 Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) to carry out the culling operations.
Two teams are carrying out culling operations at the OUAT farm since 7 am in the morning. The farm had around 15,000 poultry birds, sources said. The culling operation is being carried out as per the SoP and guidelines of the Centre. Five teams have also been engaged to undertake culling in other places of the infected zone which include shops, markets as well as birds reared in backyards in the vicinity.
The areas where culling operations will be carried out on Tuesday include part of Ward no 52, Aerodrome area, Airport staff quarters area, Forest Park, Ward no 51, Siripur, Bhoi Sahi, Satabdi Nagar, Soubhagya Nagar, Citi Women's College locality, Ward No 48, Krushi Vihar, Unit 8 Govt High School area, Delta Colony, Agriculture Colony, part of Ward no 47, Gopabandhu Nagar, Raj Bhawan Colony, part of Ward no 46, part of Ward no 36, Unit 5 area, Bhubaneswar club, Surya Nagar, Pichupadia slum and parts of Unit 6 area.
"The remaining five teams will keep an eye on the situation in the surveillance zone in the city," said an official from the control room set up at the sub-divisional veterinary office at Saheed Nagar in the city. Samples of birds within the surveillance zone will be collected and sent to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL), Bhopal, by Wednesday, the official said.
Meanwhile, movement of poultry birds and poultry products to and from the infected zone has been prohibited until further orders. F&ARD department officials have also said that restocking of poultry birds within 1 km radius of the infected site will commence after 90 days of issuance of sanitation certificate by the state government.
The state control room with telephone number 06712414310 and fax 06712414739 has also been made functional at the Directorate of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services in Cuttack to monitor the situation in other parts.