After Ranchi, bird flu outbreak reported in Bokaro; 250 birds dead

A bird flu outbreak has been reported in Jharkhand's Bokaro district, roughly a month after the disease led to the culling of 5,500 birds in Ranchi, an official said on Sunday.

The outbreak, caused by the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, was officially confirmed on March 7, when the Centre issued a letter to the chief secretary of Jharkhand, he said.

The outbreak was traced to a government poultry farm in Bokaro's Sector 12, where around 250 birds have already died.

The Bokaro administration on Saturday culled 46 birds and destroyed 506 eggs after the Union ministry of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying asked the state to take all measures to contain the spread of bird flu, including declaration of infected and surveillance areas, restricting access to the affected premises and culling of birds.

"Forty-six birds remaining at the farm were culled, and 506 eggs and 1,717 kg of poultry feed were destroyed. The entire farm was sanitised," Bokaro animal husbandry officer Dr Manoj Mani told PTI.

The area within the 1-km radius of the epicentre has been declared as an affected zone and birds within the area will be culled, he said.

"Additionally, a 10-km radius has been designated as a surveillance zone, where the sale and purchase of poultry has been prohibited. An awareness campaign will begin on Sunday," Mani added.

Dr Anil Kumar Sinha, in-charge of the government poultry farm, stated that the first deaths were reported on February 20.

"Twelve birds died on February 23, and we sent the initial samples to Ranchi on February 25 and to Kolkata on February 27. Following instructions from the Kolkata-based laboratory, we sent the sample to a Bhopal-based lab on March 5," he said.

The ICAR-National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal confirmed the presence of H5N1 on March 7. Sinha noted that of the 300 birds at the farm, around 250 died within 15 days.

Earlier in February, a bird flu outbreak was reported at a poultry farm at Birsa Agriculture University (BAU) in Ranchi, where 5,488 birds were culled.