Veterinary Department collects samples of poultry, migratory birds

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 5

In the wake of deaths of migratory birds and chickens in neighbouring states, the UT Veterinary Department today collected over 20 samples of birds from different areas in the city. A senior official of the department said the samples were collected from seven-eight places, including poultry farms in Mani Majra and Hallo Majra and water bodies in the city, including Sukhna Lake.

The official said special teams were formed to collect the samples that would be sent to the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Jalandhar for testing.

As a pro-active measure, the department was keeping a close watch on the situation for the past three days, but so far, no symptom of any disease was found in the birds in the city, he added.

The official said the samples were being sent to the laboratory so that the department could timely prepare for any eventuality.

He said sample-collection was a routine exercise carried out on a monthly basis, but due to the deaths of migratory birds in Pond Dam in Himachal Pradesh and chickens in poultry farms in the Barwala area of Panchkula, the department did not want to take any chances.

He said there was no need to panic as birds had not exhibited any symptom of flu or influenza so far.

Debendra Dalai, Chief Conservator of Forests, UT, said so far, the situation appeared to be normal as no unnatural behaviour had been noticed by the department in the birds at Sukhna Lake and other water bodies in the city.

He said the staff of the department had been put on a high alert and they were closely monitoring the situation. Chickens in a large number had died under mysterious circumstances at more than a dozen poultry farms in the Barwala area of Panchkula district.

Also, more than 2,000 birds of different species were found dead at Pong Lake in Himachal Pradesh over the past one week. Preliminary reports of five samples of Bar-headed goose have tested positive for flu-like symptoms.

from The Tribune https://ift.tt/3oje6ws