3 more Navapur poultry farms infected with avian flu

Nashik: Samples from three more poultry farms in Navapur taluka of Nandurbar district have tested positive for the avian flu, taking the total number of infected farms to six."The administration has extended the perimeter of the epicentre in close vicinity of each other. All the birds in one km radius of each epicentre will be culled, while eggs and feed destroyed," said Dr Sanjay Khachane, district deputy commissioner of the animal husbandry department."Samples of dead birds were picked up during the surveillance activity carried out earlier beyond one km radius of the epicentres and sent to the diagnostic laboratory in Pune, then forwarded to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases. The samples tested positive for the virus," said Dr Milind Bhanage, assistant commissioner, Regional Disease Investigating Laboratory, Nashik.The increase in the number of infected farms have added to the work of the 22 rapid response teams in the field. It has culled 2.5 lakh birds, destroyed 9.3 lakh eggs and burnt 2.9 tonnes of feed, so far.Bhanage said, "We had finished culling birds in the first three farms. The task was to cull birds of all kinds. The primary number of birds from the three farms found to be infected on Thursday is 1.5 lakh. It will take four days to take necessary action."District collector Mittali Sethi has announced new epicentres under the provisions of Prevention and Control of Contagious and Infectious Diseases in Animals Act 2009 that enable the officer to ensure every single bird in the vicinity is culled to contain the spread of the disease.Farms in buffer zones are also in surveillance and owners have also been told to step up biosecurity measures to ensure safety of birds.