CUTTACK: The spate of mysterious crow deaths in different parts of the State has puzzled the animal disease surveillance and control agencies even as fears of outbreak of serious viral diseases like H5N1 or avian influenza has begun to grip the local communities.
In the last fortnight mass crow deaths have been reported from places like Paradip town, Jajpur Town, Keonjhar, Champua and Khurda, prompting the Animal Disease Research Institute (ADRI) to despatch expert teams to the affected areas to study the pattern of the deaths. Samples have been collected in the form of whole dead crows, tracheal swabs of the dead birds, serum and swabs from live poultry and other birds for lab testing to determine the cause of deaths.
According to the ADRI scientists, mass crow deaths is not an unusual phenomenon but their occurrence in different parts around the same time have raised questions. In Paradip about 20 birds were found in a single spot while similar numbers were found in Jajpur Town, Keonjhar and Champua. Reports of more than 50 crows dead at Khurda on Monday got the team of bird scientists rushing to the area.
The deaths assume importance in the wake of recent crow deaths in the neighbouring Jharkhand State being linked to H5N1 or Bird Flu.
“Districts bordering Jharkhand like Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh and Balasore have been put on high alert with special teams deputed in the regions for surveillance and vaccination of poultry and other birds. We are taking extra care as the winter migration season of birds is underway and lagoons and water-bodies like chilika and Bhitarkanika are already invaded by foreign species of birds,” ADRI project director Dr Chittaranjan Swain said.
Though the scientists are not fearing Bird Flu as cause of crow deaths as they have been reported in one isolated case in most of the areas and the local bird population has not been affected, samples have been sent to the High Security Animal Disease and Investigation Laboratory at Bhopal.
“If there is any confirmation of Bird Flu, wartime prevention and control action would be initiated as per the advisory issued by the Centre,” Dr Swain said.
He, however, said the probability was very low and the deaths were more likely to be due to localised causes. Crows are extremely social animals and every food they have is shared among the group. It could be possible that the birds might have partaken of any poisonous substance like a rat killed by poison etc and ended up being dead. The possibility of an outbreak of Ranikhet Disease, which has flu like symptoms, is also high. And thus mass vaccination has been initiated in the affected parts.