New Delhi: A fresh outbreak of avian influenza among poultry, the first this year, was reported from a farm in Manipur but a senior official said yesterday that authorities were yet to confirm if it was the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain.
"We have avian influenza," said Upma Chawdhry, joint secretary of the federal Animal Husbandry Department.
The outbreak was detected on a small farm on the outskirts of Imphal, the capital of Manipur, where 133 chickens out of 144 suddenly died this month, Chawdhry said.
"The state government has been informed and asked to start the control and containment operations," she said.
Local officials said veterinary workers would start culling chickens, ducks and other birds within a 5 km radius of the farm today.
"It is an isolated case. No reports have come from other parts of the state," said Dorendro Singh, director of Manipur's veterinary and animal husbandry department.
Manipur borders Myanmar, which has fought outbreaks of the H5N1 strain of bird flu among poultry this year.
At least 20 people living on the farm as well as 6 veterinary workers were taking Tamiflu, the most popular drug for treating bird flu, as a "matter of abundant precaution", Chawdhry said. Health workers involved in containing the infection in the area would also be given Tamiflu, she said.
India has had nearly a dozen alerts this year before the new outbreak.
The country declared itself bird-flu free last August after two outbreaks of H5N1 among chickens in western areas in 2006. New Delhi was praised by international agencies for its handling of last year's outbreaks, especially its quick compensation to farmers.
