Bird flu : High alert in Cooch Behar, guest birds are in suspect list

 

COOCH BEHAR, Jan. 17: High alert sounded in Cooch Behar district following outbreak of avian flu in some districts in the state. Order issued to keep the Indo-Bangladesh border sealed. Leave of all personnel of animal resources development (ARD) department were cancelled and no one will be able to get leave till further order. ARD men are keeping strict watch on poultry farms and migratory birds.

 

There is a government poultry farm in Cooch Behar town. There are about eight hundred poultry here, mainly of Road Island Red variety. All sorts of precautionary measures were taken to keep them safe. Prohibitory order was issued so that no one can enter in the farm area. The main entrance of the ARD office complex was sprayed with disinfectant powder to keep the farm, staff quarters and office free from contamination of H5N1 virus.

 

ARD office sources said that they already sent blood serum, stool and swab samples to the Regional Diagnostic Laboratory at Belgachhia in Kolkata. These samples were collected from different areas in the district. Rapid Response Teams are kept ready to meet any situation. All the block areas especially the villages adjacent to the Indo-Bangladesh border were alerted. Instructions were issued to report any incident of abnormal death of any poultry or bird immediately to the ARD officials.

 

It may be mentioned here that there are about one-lakh chickens in about fifty privately run poultry farms in the district.   

 

District magistrate of Cooch Behar Mr Rajesh Kumar Sinha said he convened a meeting on 22 January to discuss the situation. All officials of concerned departments are to attend the meeting. Meanwhile, the DM asked the Border Security Force to ensure that no poultry can enter from the neighbouring country. At the same time Mr Sinha assured that there is no report of any incident of abnormal death of any bird or poultry. Measures were taken to clean the vehicles coming from Bangladesh through Changrabandha International Check Post with disinfectants so that these cannot carry the deadly virus from the other side of the border, he said.

 

On the otherhand, deputy director of ARD department in Cooch Behar, Dr Tapan Kumar Roy ordered cancellation of all leave applications. No ARD personnel will be allowed to leave his or her concerned area of duty till further order. There are about 450 ARD personnel in this district including veterinary surgeons, pharmacists and livestock field assistants.

 

Dr Roy today visited Rasik-bil tourist complex accompanied by district veterinary officer Dr Jagannath Saha, district pathologist Dr Samir Patra and ADFO (Social Forestry) Mr Asitava Chatterjee. They collected droppings of migratory birds from the area for sending those for examination at Belgachhia laboratory. It may be mentioned here that Rasik-bil is famous for seasonal migratory birds.

 

Dr Roy said the migratory birds especially waterfowls are seldom get affected from the H5N1 virus. These creatures are merely carriers of the deadly virus. Testing of the samples of droppings may ascertain whether they are carrying the virus, he said. Surveillance is being done at every level to combat outbreak of the disease, he said. []