BHOPAL: High alert has been sounded on the Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh border in the wake of a bird flu outbreak among wild crows in Jhik Bijuri area of the central Indian state’s Shahdol district.At least 35 wild crows have died since April 2 in a radius of 1.5 km in Jhik Bijuri area, which is around 110 km from MP’s Shahdol district headquarters and just 5-7 km from the Koriya district of Chhattisgarh.The sudden deaths of crows started on April 2 in the area, prompting the authorities in Shahdol district to send samples of crows (two dead crows) to ICAR-National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal.On April 8, the institute confirmed the presence of the bird flu (avian influenza) causing H5N1 influenza virus. All the 35 crows who have died since have been buried adequately in pursuance with the necessary safety protocols.“Since then, high alert has been sounded in Jhik Bijuri and adjoining areas, and a three-tier security and surveillance system has been put in place for proper security and surveillance of crows and other birds in the concerned area. As there are no commercial poultry farms/shops in the area, our special surveillance teams are conducting surveys of small backyard poultries of individual villagers to monitor poultry health,” Dr Ram Kumar Pathak, deputy director of animal husbandry department in Shahdol district said.
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