Manipur: 45,000 fowls infected by bird flu culled

Imphal, Jul 29: Veterinary and health officials continued to cull fowls for the fourth consecutive day today after confirmation of Avian Influenza (flu) at Chingmeirong here.

The Assam Rifles troops, local NGOs and women organisations had also extended the effort to cull the fowls.

Officials said the control room was flooded with SOS calls and requests to cull the fowls.

About 45,000 fowls were culled so far, officials said adding that the Rapid Reaction Team (RRT) started going from home to home to check if any fowls were left out within the radius of five kilometres from the place where flu was first detected.

The Veterinary Director Dr Th Dorendra said the culling process had started slowly and was now at its peak .

The officials heaved a sigh a relief when it was confirmed that a member of RRT, who died yesterday, was due to consumption of formalin but not due to any flu-related disease.

All RRT personnel wore protective gear and urged all to wash their hands properly.

The campaign was more intensified and time consuming as house-to- house search was conducted.

The district administrations had already banned movement of poultry products and the neighbouring states had also banned transportation of poultry products.

The PRO of Assam rifles said following the outbreak of Bird Flu in the town, a major drive was undertaken by the HQ IGAR (South) to curb the spread of the Avian influenza, commonly known as ''Bird Flu'' amongst AR units.

Six Emergency Response Team each duly equipped and headed by an Officer and a Junior Commissioned Officer were formed and tasked to visit each and every house in the garrison to check and collect all kinds of poultry and poultry products.

The school children were also explained about the danger of the disease and their tiffins were also checked for chicken or egg foods items. Free meal was provided to the children carrying chicken or egg foods.

All the poultry and its products were centrally collected and medical officer of 4 Assam Rifles with the team from Veterinary Dept disposed all the poultry products safely.

The Unit Pastor with Nursing Assistance were also sent to all the neighboring villages to conduct lecture on the risk of the ''Bird Flu'' and related precautionary measures to be taken to avoid infection.

Meanwhile, the Director of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr L Fimate said all efforts were made to check the transfer of the disease to humans and 12 beds were kept ready and the hospital staff were briefed about the disease.

UNI