Second outbreak of bird flu in Jalgaon

Jalgaon, Mar 28 (UNI) Jalgaon in northern Maharashtra today reported its second outbreak of the bird flu virus in six areas, forcing the administration to quarantine 22 villages in six tahsils of the district from tonight.

District Collector Vijay Singhal informed that reports confirming the outbreak were received this evening from Bhopal's High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) and said operation to kill 2.10 lakh birds in 288 villages of the six tahsils would start tomorrow morning.

He said digging of trenches to bury the culled birds had already begun.

The district was just beginning returning to normal after the first outbreak of the deadly H5N1 was confirmed on March 14. As many as 95,000 birds were slaughtered in 274 villages of the district till March 20.

Earlier in February, more than two lakh birds had to be slaughtered in Navapur in Nandurbar district, also in northern Maharashtra, when India's first outbreak of avian flu was confirmed on February 18.

Two of the six affected tahsils - Raver and Muktainagar - are located in the vicinity of Ichhapur town in adjoining Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh where outbreak of the virus prompted the government to initiate containment measures earlier in the day.

Emerging from an emergency meeting of officials of animal husbandary and health departments, besides police, here tonight, Mr Singhal said of the 90 samples sent to the Bhopal lab between March 15 and 20, the ones sent from Badgaon, Utar, Parora, Varad, Paldhi and Erandol have tested positive for the H5N1 virus.

All 22 villages located in a three km radius of these six flu-hit places have been quarantined, Mr Singhal told reporters, adding movement of poultry stock, people and vehicles have been banned with immediate effect.

Trains at Paldhi and Pardhadi railway stations in the district will not halt and bus services to and from 22 villages have been suspended untill further orders, the Collector said.

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