An unusual number of pigeon deaths in Brahmagiri on Tuesday has left the villagers worried as they suspect it to be bird flu virus spreading its tentacles in the region. As per reports, the birds have been seen dropping dead from trees along the roads shedding saliva from their mouths.
Plenty of carcasses were seen in Brahmagiri market, Brahmagiri-Kusubenti and Delang-Brahmagiri roads. While the cause of death of pigeons has not been ascertained, possible spread of avian influenza has worried the locals. Meanwhile, two persons have been admitted to the Capital Hospital for avian flu infection.
In the second week of December last year, a bird flu alert was sounded by the local administration in Chilika lake after hundreds of migratory birds were found dead in the area. The local administration had put up posters around Chilika urging people not to catch, prey or eat bird meat or step over their excreta.
The posters had also advised the locals not to let their domestic animals go anywhere near the dead birds or touch them as that could risk getting infected. It may be noted that, many migratory birds had died in 2012 in a similar fashion. H5N1 avian influenza was detected after swabs and blood sample collected from dead birds from seven different areas of Nalabana were studied by experts from Institute of Natural Historical Science, Mumbai and Bird Research Centre in Bhopal.
As Brahmagiri is not far from Chilika, the largest brackish water lake in India, the people in the region have reasons to worry about.