Bird Flu Alert: Odisha's Puri District Takes Swift Action Against Outbreak

Emergency Measures in Response to Bird Flu Outbreak

Puri: A bird flu outbreak has been officially reported at a poultry farm in the Puri district of Odisha, leading the state authorities to implement urgent containment strategies, including the culling of more than 6,700 birds, as stated by a senior official on Sunday.

The decision for mass culling was made after the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal confirmed that samples taken from Bada Ankula village in the Delanga block tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza.

On Saturday and Sunday, over 6,700 birds were culled in accordance with the standard operating procedures established by the central government.

Sarat Kumar Behera, the chief district veterinary officer (CDVO) for Puri, reported that five rapid response teams (RRTs) along with health personnel have been dispatched to the area where the bird flu cases were identified.

"We have imposed a complete ban on the movement of live birds in and out of the affected zone," he stated.

After the culling was completed within a 1-kilometer radius of the village, samples were also collected from five additional villages for testing.

Reports indicate that the village had experienced an unusual number of poultry deaths over the past week, but the outbreak was only confirmed after villagers expressed their concerns, prompting officials to collect samples on July 9.

In the meantime, Gokulananda Mallik, the Minister for Fisheries and Animal Resources Development, visited the affected area to assess the containment measures being implemented to curb the virus's spread.