Culling of birds have been ordered in Barahat block of Banka district after samples were found positive for bird flu, a senior state government official said Saturday.
"So far, we have found samples positive for bird flu from three places- two places in Munger and one in Patna i.e. Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park known as Patna zoo. But today, we received positive result for bird flu from the samples collected from Barahat block of Banka district," Animal and Fish Resources Department's Secretary N Vijayalakshmi told reporters here.
"We immediately sent teams comprising officials and veterinary doctors to Banka. Culling of birds will begin from tomorrow," Vijayalakshmi said.
Around 3-4 crows were found dead at an orchard behind Barahat block of Banka district a week ago, official sources said.
The department has collected samples from various places, including various poultry farms in different districts,she said adding that the department had collected samples from Gorho panchayat under Asarganj block of Munger district on December 19, 2018 which were found positive.
Samples collected from Mubarakchak village under Munger block of Munger district were also found positive, she said adding that "we strictly followed standard protocol in the event of occurrence of avian influenza which is also known as bird flu."
More than 50 crows and umpteen numbers of chickens were found dead in Gorho and Mubarakchak village of Munger district.
Vijayalakshmi assured the people of the state that there is no need to get panic and said that they can consume eggs and chicken if they cook them beyond 70 degrees temperature as virus get destroyed on this temperature.
"It is safe to consume eggs and chicken because normally they are cooked at very high temperature (beyond 70 degrees) in our households. So there is no need to be panicky," the Secretary said.
It may be noted that around a dozen crows were found dead in an orchard at Chandanpatti village under Sakra block of Muzaffarpur on Janaury 6, triggering panic among the local people.
Carcasses of eight crows were found in College of Arts and Crafts at Patna.
Around 400 chickens were found dead at a poultry farm in a village in Bikram block of Patna district in the past 48 hours.
Even Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, popularly known as Patna zoo, has been closed since December 25 (2018) following death of six peafowls due to H5N1 virus which was confirmed by the experts of Regional Diseases Diagnotic Laboratory (RDDL), Kolkata and National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal, zoo official sources said.
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