NEW DELHI, March 8 � Surveillance throughout Tripura has been intensified to monitor further spread of bird flu infection after laboratory tests confirmed H5 strains in the poultry samples collected from state poultry farm, Gandhigram, official sources today said.
Tests conducted at ERDDL, Kolkata and High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL), Bhopal have confirmed that the samples from the State poultry farm are positive for H5 strain of avian influenza commonly called bird flu, an official statement said here.
Earlier, hundreds of ducks had died of avian influenza last month in another government run R K Nagar farm in Agartala, the capital town of the northeastern state.
Following confirmation of avian influenza, it has been decided that the entire poultry will be culled within a radius of 3 kms of the focus of infection viz. State poultry farm, Gandhigram, Agartala, it said.
The state government has been asked to furnish a daily report on the control and containment operations to the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in the Ministry of Agriculture, it said.
The Centre has advised the State to take a series of strategic actions, including declaration of infected and surveillance areas, ban on movement of poultry and its products in the infected area/closure of poultry and egg markets and shops within a radius of 10 km from the infected site, the statement said.
It also suggested to ban movement of farm personnel, restricting access to wild and stray birds; restricting access to the infected premises; destruction of birds; disposal of dead birds and infected materials; clean-up and disinfection followed by sealing of the premises and issue of sanitisation certificate and imposition of legislative measures etc. � PTI
