NEW DELHI, 27 December 2016 : The Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fishries, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has informed the Government of Odisha regarding the confirmation of H5 N1 strain of Avian Influenza virus in village Keranga of District Khordha of Odisha.
The samples from the said epicenter were sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal who confirmed on 25.12.2016 that the aforesaid samples were found positive in RT-PCR and Real time RT-PCR for H5 N1 strain of Avian Influenza virus.
State was intimated of the positive results on December 25, 2016. The State was requested to carry out the control and containment operations as per ‘Action Plan of Animal Husbandry for Preparedness, Control and Containment of Avian Influenza (2015)’ which was circulated to the States by the Government of India in March, 2015. It is also available on Department website (www.dahd.nic.in) under link: Animal Health-Bird Flu. Therefore, control and containment measures as per above Action Plan on Avian Influenza needs to be carried out by the State.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India was also intimated in the matter.
Necessary actions as contained in the Action Plan of Animal Husbandry referred to above (especially under Part III) are to be completed immediately by the State Government viz: declaration of infected and surveillance areas, restricting access to the infected premises; destruction of birds; disposal of dead birds and infected materials; clean-up and disinfection followed by sealing of the premises and issue of sanitization certificate; post operations surveillance; imposition of legislative measures etc. along with necessary measures laid down in the Contingency Plan (2005) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
The details of epicenter are given below:-
| S. No. | Village/ Block | District |
| 1. | Keranga | Khordha |
1 In addition to the culling strategy mentioned above, surveillance will be carried out over a radius up to 10 kilometers from the epicenter.
2 A daily report on the control and containment operations may please be furnished to this Department by 10 a.m.
3. International Organization, i.e. OIE, will be notified by the Government of India at its level.
4. Surveillance throughout the State may be intensified to monitor further spread of infection.
