No bird flu scare so far in Andhra Pradesh State

Amaravati: There is no trace of bird flu cases in Andhra Pradesh, according to director of animal husbandry Amarendra Kumar. The AHD director said the bird flu cases were present in Rajasthan, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh but none was reported in AP. He said that the officials are monitoring the situation with the poultry farmers.

He said in a statement on Thursday that more than one lakh migratory birds visit Kolleru, Pulicat, Nelapattu and Korangi regions every year and there was a possibility of spread of bird flu through them. In view of this, the forest department officials were asked to closely monitor the health of migratory birds and alert the animal husbandry officials if there was any sign of deaths of birds with bird flu symptoms. The poultry farmers were also alerted and directed to report immediately if there were any such incidents. Amarendra Kumar said if any case of bird flu was noticed they have to send the samples to Bhopal for lab test. If necessary, a task force will be formed under the chairmanship of district collector in each district.

National Egg Coordination Committee Vijayawada zonal chairman T Kutumba Rao said as of now there was no bird flu panic in Andhra Pradesh. He said the population of layer birds stands at 5.4 crore and 60 lakh birds in backyard farms. Alert will be continued in poultry sector throughout the year and there was no special alert from officials. He said the poultry sector was functioning normally and there was no need for panic.

Some of the poultry owners including Sneha and Radhakrishna poultries said that there were no cases of bird flu in the state. They said that the production in poultry farms is normal.

A chicken retailer, Basha at Durgapuram in Vijayawada, said that there was no drop in chicken sales and prices as there is no bird flu scare in the state. He said that he is selling nearly 100 live chicks daily at a price of Rs 200 a Kg.