Bird flu scare in Odisha’s Chilika lake; alert sounded

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Dec 15:

A bird flu alert has been sounded by the local administration in Odisha’s Chilka lake after hundreds of migratory birds were found dead in the area in the last few days.

Though post mortem has not been carried out on any of the dead birds yet, bird flu is suspected to be the primary reason for their unexplained death.

Local administration has put up posters around Chilika urging people not to catch, prey or eat bird meat or step over their excreta.  The posters also advise the locals not to let their domestic animals go anywhere near the dead birds or touch it themselves which can infect them.

The administration is not taking any chances since there are reports of bird flu breaking out in some parts of Asia and Europe and there is every possibility of it taking epidemic proportions.

It may be noted that, many migratory bird had died in 2012 in similar fashion. H5N1 avian influenza was detected after swabs and blood sample collected from dead birds from seven different areas of Nalabana were studied by experts from Institute of Natural Historical Science, Mumbai and Bird Research Centre in Bhopal.

Some of the migratory birds never returned to their summer habitat in Central Asia and Siberia that year. The reason for this strange behaviour still remains a mystery.