Bird Flu Rocks India Amidst COVID-19 Spread

An outbreak of avian influenza (bird flu) is rapidly spreading across India, with seven states confirming cases and others awaiting test results. 

This is as they put containment measures in place, officials said Sunday.

The latest state to confirm cases is in Uttar Pradesh, where the zoo in Kanpur city had been shut down after the death of four jungle fowls and two parrots. 

Test reports received late Saturday confirmed they were positive for the virus, Kanpur District’s Chief Veterinary Officer, RP Mishra, said. 

“We are in the process of culling all birds present in all the enclosures and the zoo has been declared a containment zone. 

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“It is unfortunate but we are following the protocol,’’ Mishra said. 

Samples from dead crows from four other Uttar Pradesh districts have been sent to a laboratory in the central Indian city of Bhopal for testing. 

Cases of bird flu have also been confirmed by Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Gujarat, according to the federal government.

The dead birds include poultry fowl, crows, pigeons, peacocks, and migratory birds. 

Bird flu affects mainly poultry and wild birds but can infect humans who have close contact with an infected bird.

Poultry chickens are being culled in Haryana and Madhya Pradesh and ducks in Kerala. 

Markets and shops selling poultry have been shut for a week in seven Madhya Pradesh cities, a government spokesperson said.