India News | Punjab: Samples of Another Poultry Farm Suspected to Be Positive for Bird Flu

Chandigarh, Jan 22 (PTI) Samples collected from a poultry farm in Punjab's Mohali district were sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal, after it was suspected that they were positive for bird flu, officials said on Friday.

After receiving a report of suspected cases of Avian Influenza at a poultry farm at Behra village in Mohali from the Northern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (NRDDL), Jalandhar, the Animal Husbandry Department has sent the samples to NIHSAD for confirmation, Additional Chief Secretary V K Janjua said in a statement here.

He also said 11,200 birds of a poultry farm, whose samples had tested positive for avian influenza, were culled on Friday.

Culling of birds of another poultry farm will start in the coming days, Janjua added.

Around 53,000 birds of two poultry farms at Dera Bassi in Mohali, whose samples had tested positive for bird flu on Wednesday, are to be culled, as per the statement.

Punjab Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan directed the animal husbandry department to keep a strict vigil to combat the bird flu threat in the state.

Urging the people to follow the guidelines issued by the department, he said chicken and other poultry products are safe for consumption when cooked properly.

Punjab had sounded an alert earlier this month after bird flu cases were reported from several states and union territories in north India, including Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)