India's federal government has urged the nation's states and union territories (UTs) to take all possible steps to urgently contain the spread of avian influenza.
This comes after a large number of birds recently died in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala due to avian flu.
An Animal Husbandry and Dairying department official told Sputnik on Wednesday that the situation was alarming. The states have been asked to be cautious so that bird flu can be controlled and not get out of hand at the earliest.
According to government estimates, as many as 35,000 birds have died due to different variants of bird flu in four Indian states.
Calling the situation “serious”, the government has asked all the states to step up the surveillance and monitoring of birds for any sign of disease.
The Centre has sent in generic guidelines relating to bird flu to the chief wildlife officers of all states/UTs, urging them to prioritise measures to control it.
In the guidelines, they have warned the states of a possible spread of the disease to humans, domesticated animals and birds.
Under the instructions, in case of signs of the disease and its spread, the states should take immediate action, including the culling of birds as required.
Earlier, several state governments lincluding Karnataka, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh had issued a high alert in their states in anticipation of the avian flu spreading.
