The historic Red Fort is now out of bounds of public at least till January 26 (Republic Day) as carcasses of dead crows found within the premises of the monument tested positive for the H5N1 virus that causes bird flu.
A sample collected from the monument, where 15 crows died a few days ago, has tested positive for bird flu, the Animal Husbandry Department said and asked the Archeological Survey of India to ban the entry of the people at the Red Fort till Republic Day on January 26.
Rakesh Singh, director of the Delhi government's animal husbandry department, said that a sample from a dead bird was sent to a Jalandhar-based laboratory for testing.
"Entry of the public into the monument has been restricted till January 26 as a precautionary measure," he said.
Following this, the ASI has issued notice for closure of the monument which is visited by thousands of tourists every day. The monument will be closed from January 19 to January 21 and then further to 26th as is done every year on account of Republic Day celebrations, said an ASI official.
On Saturday, reports came that samples from a dead owl from Delhi Zoological Park had tested positive for avian influenza.
Last week, all 100 samples taken from Asia's largest chicken market in Ghazipur had tested negative for bird flu. The Delhi government, however, shut down the poultry market temporarily for 10 days as a precautionary measure before the results came.
The results come three days after samples taken from crows and ducks in the national capital tested positive for avian influenza, causing the Delhi government to ban the sale of processed and packaged chicken brought from outside the city.