After the detection of avian influenza H5N1 virus in one of the domesticated ducks that died at Sukhna lake, the UT Administration has geared up to deal with any emergency situation arising out of the outbreak of deadly virus.
The UT Administration on Wednesday constituted five rapid response teams and also set up a control room with phone number 0172-270092 in the office of UT Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department to deal with the situation and control the outbreak of bird flu in the city.Taking precautionary measures, the UT Administration has stopped boating at the Sukhna lake and closed the CITCO restaurant in the lake premises. The trekking “nature trek” at Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary has also been stopped for few days.
Apart from this, a special ward has been set up at Government Multi Speciality Hospital Sector 16 here to counter any type of untoward situation. An emergency meeting was convened on Wednesday by Director, UT Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department, Prince Dhawan, who has been appointed as nodal officer to control the outbreak of the bird flu in the city.
During the meeting, it was decided that the officials of UT Health Department, UT Police and UT Wildlife Department will assist the UT Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department in implementation of preventive and control measures in the union territory of Chandigarh.Also, a team of Regional Disease Diagnostic laboratory (RDDl), Jalandhar has reached Chandigarh to supervise the implementation of preventive and control measures here.
A meeting with RDDl officials would be held on Thursday to take a final call on feeding of domesticated ducks and carrying out culling of these birds at the lake. At present, assistance has been taken from Chattbir Zoo authority for feeding the ducks.The Administration has already fenced off the lake’s island where the domesticated ducks are contained. The five personnel of UT Wildlife Department who were feeding the domesticated ducks at the island have been given anti-viral tablets and have been asked to consume it for next ten days to ward off the risks of bird flu.
Since last week, as many as 24 domesticated ducks have died at city’s Sukhna lake. There are more than 100 domesticated ducks at the manmade water body, apart from more than 1000 migratory birds that reach Chandigarh every year by mid-November.Every year, the migratory birds reach Chandigarh’s Sukhna lake from Siberia, Central Asia, China, Afghanistan and the upper Himalayas and their stay lasts till March or April.
As per the guidelines issued to contain the dreaded avian flu, the birds within a radius of 1 km of infected site have to be culled. The UT Administration will now carry out culling of domesticated ducks and poultry within 1 km radius of Sukhna lake.At the same time, the concerns of outbreak of bird flu here arise with the presence of large number of migratory birds at the regulatory end of lake.
As of now, the avian influenza, H5N1 has been confirmed in one of the six samples that had been sent to NIHSAD, Bhopal. And, the UT Administration is now waiting for Government of India’s orders to carry out culling of the domesticated and poultry birds here.As per the UT officials, “A meeting with RDDl officials will be held on Thursday and after the Government of India’s order, culling of domesticated ducks and poultry within 1 km radius of lake’s island would be carried out. All birds, including ducks, pets and hens within 1 km of lake’s island would be culled with the support of other departments. The decision about wild birds and migratory birds will also be taken during the meeting.
According to the officials, culling will be done under the supervision of officials from Government of India and the tourist spot- Sukhna lake is likely to be closed for about one month as a precautionary measure. When contacted, Dr lovelesh Kant Gupta, Joint Director, UT Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department said, “The UT Administration is geared up to deal with any emergency situation. The Department has enough personal protection equipments (PPE) to carry out control measures in the city.”
“This is the first bird flu case reported in Chandigarh. And, the UT Health Department has also been asked to do special checks in the city to contain the spread of the virus, he added.The UT Police officials deployed at the lake have been asked to keep the visitors away from the birds at the Sukhna lake. The officials of UT Animal Husbandry Department alongwith UT Wildlife Department has also stepped up its vigilance to keep a check on sick birds at the lake.