We have taken precautionary measures to prevent bird flu: Navin Patnaik

Kolkata/Bhubaneswar, Jan 22 : Orissa Chief Minister Navin Patnaik on Tuesday said that his government was taking all precautionary measures to stop bird flu virus from entering the state.

"We have taken a number of precautions as far as bird flu is concerned enclosing the borders to those kinds of birds...also a number of our doctors from Orissa have gone to help in the bird flu in West Bengal," Patnaik said.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Health Minister Surjya Kanta Mishra has rubbished media report that five people in West Bengal had been quarantined with bird flu symptoms.

"We keep on sending samples from all districts, besides their surveillance wing, the NICD (National Institute of Communicable Diseases), has also been taking samples and there is no case of human infections from this," said Mishra.

Putting to rest fears of humans being infected by bird flu, Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has said that people have been randomly tested in West Bengal's areas hit by avian influenza and all have tested negative.

"Till date we have not got any confirmation for that (humans being infected by bird flu)," Ramadoss told reporters on the sidelines of a function here, adding that "there is no reason to be concerned of human cases of bird flu."

"We are all vigilant," he said.

So far, seven districts -- Birbhum, Murshidabad, south Dinajpur, Burdwan, Nadia, Bankura and Malda -- in West Bengal have been affected by bird flu.

About 160,000 poultry birds have been culled so far, while over 100,000 birds have succumbed to the disease.

ANI