The Centre requests states to form monitoring panels amid mass bird deaths.
Key points:
- States such as Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh have recorded a large number of deaths.
- According to the World Health Organisation, human beings may be infected by avian influenza or bird flu mainly by direct contact.
- Intensive monitoring should be carried out to identify birds’ unreasonable actions or deaths in both wild and migratory birds.
As an action plan for tracking migratory birds throughout the country was being developed, the Union Environment Ministry wrote to the State Chief Secretaries and Chief Wildlife Wardens urging them to create monitoring committees regarding avian influenza.
H5Nl Avian Influenza Virus positive letter stated:
States such as Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh have recorded a large number of deaths, including those of migratory birds.
“At the ICAR-National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal, samples have been investigated and proven to be H5Nl Avian Influenza Virus positive,” the letter concluded.
The virus can spread to humans as well as Animals:
It added that taking into account the serious situation and the possibility of the spread of the virus to humans and other domesticated animals, all measures to contain the spread of the disease have to be taken by the States and the territories of the Union.
“…take, on a priority basis, the surveillance and also monitoring of birds for any signs of disease, and take effective control measures.”
As per the WHO reports:
According to the World Health Organisation, human beings may be infected by avian influenza or bird flu mainly by direct contact.
They can also cause diseases ranging from mild fever as well as cough, early sputum development, and rapid progression to extreme pneumonia, shock sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and maybe even death.
The further letter stated:
The Centre has advised the States, with the utmost care and under scientific supervision, to collect samples of migratory and dead birds.
Surveillance should not be confined to protected areas only and should be applied to all wetlands including habitats hosting migratory birds and areas with the potential for migratory or poultry bird encounters, the advisory said.
“All fatalities of migratory birds—their number including cause are to be recorded to the environment ministry instantly,” the letter added.
The states have been asked to send weekly reports to the Ministry with details:
Intensive monitoring should be carried out to identify birds’ unreasonable actions or deaths in both wild and migratory birds. Vigilance in zoos too should be stepped up.
The States were asked to send weekly updates to the Ministry with information of important bird places, the number as well as species of birds that arrived, the estimated time of arrival and stay, any changes in migration patterns vis-à-vis the number of birds, arrival sites, etc., as compared to the previous years.
