Poultry labs in Odisha ban outsiders’ entry to prevent bird flu outbreak

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jan 1:

The Central Poultry Development Organisation (CPDO) for eastern region at Jaydev Vihar, Bhubaneswar and Department of Poultry Sciences of Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT), Odisha are leaving no stones unturned to prepare for the bird flu scare in the state.

As part of the preventive measures put in place, both OUAT and CPDO have sealed their surroundings and imposed a complete ban on public access to these labs. Only the staff are being allowed into the premises.

“We are taking all possible measures to control the outbreak of bird flu here. Measures such as implementation of bio-security and cleanliness drive have been taken to prevent an outbreak.  We have also stopped breeding with poultry from outside and are not allowing visitors and farmers near the shades. We are also trying to prevent other birds fly around our shades and giving RD injections to regulate and prevent the disease,” said PK Mishra chief of Department of Poultry Sciences, OUAT.

CPDO, whihc breeds about 8000 – 9000 poultry, has resorted to usage of bleaching powder and spraying of B-904 medicine, besides banning the entry of outsiders into the campus.

“Rare breeds of poultry went extinct the last time bird flu hit the state in 2012. Special care is being taken to avoid another such mishap. We have about 2000 poultry here for breeding and researc,h including three rare species. One of them, Hansei, is from Muyurbhanj district in Odisha while two other species – Colored synthetic male lime and Colored synthetic female lime – are from other states,” Mishra added.

While bird flu has already been detected in Kerala, the risk of its spread in Odisha is really high due to migratory birds coming to Chilka from all over the country and northern Asia. Hundreds of birds were found dead around the famed lake a couple of weeks back.

The Animal Disease Research Institute (ADRI), Phulanakhara, has begun investigation as per the order of the director, Animal Resources department on December 17. A three-member expert team of the Institute collected excreta and swab samples of the birds and sent it to Regional Disease Diagnostics Laboratory (RDDL) in Kolkata for testing.