Shillong, Jan 12: NNN Following the confirmation of bird flu outbreak in a Williamnagar farm in East Khasi Hills in Meghalaya, the district administration, West Garo Hills has decided to ban the entry of all poultry and poultry products into the district with immediate effect.
The dicision was taken at a meeting of the West Garo Hills District Level Task Force on Avian Flu under the chairmanship of the deputy commissioner Sanjay Goyal, today. The meeting was called in urgency after the samples taken from dead poultry from Williamnagar tested positive of the H1N1 virus on Wednesday, to chalk out the detailed plan and precautionary measures to prevent the outbreak in the district.
As per the decision taken at a meeting , the teams from the Veterinary department along with police personnel would be placed in all the entry and exist points, particularly in areas adjacent to East Garo Hills district as well as the entry point from adjoining districts of Assam.
However, it has not decided to ban consumption and sale of locally available poultry products as there has been no cases of the diseases reported from any part of the state.
The district Veterinary department has been asked to ensure that the field staff monitor their respective areas and give a daily report to the district administration if there has been any case of bird flu or birds dying anywhere.
As necessary precautions to prevent the spread of the flu to human, the Health department in the district has been asked to issue notice to all the PHCs, CHCs and private practitioners to monitor patients with symptoms of the diseases and also to keep a stock of anti virus medicines ready.
The forest department personnel have been directed to keep a watch to see if there has been any natural deaths of birds within the district and at the same time the PHE department has been asked to monitor the water reservoirs tanks to prevent contamination by carcasses of dead birds.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/bird-flu-outbreak-at-meghalaya/
