Caused by the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal has confirmed bird flu on March 7 in Bokaro, and the Centre has issued a letter to the chief secretary of Jharkhand regarding the matter.

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The case was reported in a government poultry farm in Bokaro’s Sector 12. Around 250 birds have already died on the farm and the administration has also culled 46 birds and destroyed 506 eggs after the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying urged to take measures to deal with the situation.

As part of the efforts to contain the spread of bird flu, forty-six birds remaining at the farm were culled, and 506 eggs and 1,717 kg of poultry feed were destroyed, apart from sanitising the entire farm, according to Bokaro Animal Husbandry Officer Dr Manoj Mani.

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The administration has declared the area within the 1-km radius of the epicentre as an affected zone and birds within the area will be culled.

The authorities have also designed a 10-km radius as a surveillance zone, banning the sale and purchase of poultry from the area. An awareness campaign has also been planned.

Dr Anil Kumar Sinha, in charge of the government poultry farm, says the first deaths were reported on February 20, and then they sent the samples to  Ranchi on February 25 and to Kolkata on February 27.

After the Kolkata-based laboratory’s advice, they sent the samples to a Bhopal-based lab on March 5. The ICAR-National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal has confirmed the presence of H5N1 on March 7. The officer has said that out of 300 birds at the farm, around 250 died within 15 days.