The Madhya Pradesh government on Wednesday announced to temporarily ban chicken trade from southern states in view of bird flu. The decision was taken at a meeting presided over Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Bhopal. The meeting was attended by Health minister Vishvas Sarang and officials of concerned departments.
Also, the Mandsaur district administration has ordered to close the shops selling chicken and eggs for 15 days. The decision was taken after confirmation of the presence of bird flu. Scores of crows have died in the last few days, triggering the authorities to take preventive measures.
The state government has already sounded a bird flu alert in the state. According to reports, bird flu was detected in crows. The state government has asked the Rapid Response Team to set up a control room in Indore.
Since December 23, 2020, about 400 avian deaths have been reported across 10 districts of Madhya Pradesh. Between December 23, 2020 and January 3 this year, the landlocked state has reported 142 crows death in Indore, 100 in Mandsaur, 112 in Agar-Malwa, 13 in Khargone, and nine in Sehore district.
Presence of H5N8 virus (a variant of avian influenza or bird flu) was found in the carcasses of crows in Indore, Mandsaur and Agar Malwa districts.
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Apart from these three districts, the samples of dead avians have been collected from Ujjain, Sehore, Dewas, Guna, Shajapur, Khargone and Neemuch districts and sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal for testing.
The presence of bird flu was first detected in Indore on December 29 when about 50 crows were found dead in Daly College campus in the Residency area. On Monday, the government sounded a bird flu alert across Madhya Pradesh.
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