Following the outbreak of avian influenza H5N8 at the Mysuru zoo, which has been shut till February 2, the Department of Animal Husbandry has stepped up surveillance of lakes across Mysuru.
Lakes located within 10 km of the zoo had been identified and bird droppings are being collected for laboratory investigations to check if birds had been infected.
“The samples collected from lake environs are being sent to IAH and VB in Bengaluru. So far, no unnatural death of birds had been reported,” said Prasad Murthy, Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry, Mysuru.
He told The Hindu that surveillance is also being done by the department personnel at Ranganatittu Bird Sanctuary.
Barring Karanji Lake Nature Park where birds were being monitored by the zoo, the department personnel were monitoring the other places, he said.
Lakes under surveillance include Kukkarahalli lake, Lingambudi lake, and Dalvoy lake. Even villages on the city outskirts had been included in the surveillance and birds visiting farm fields were also being watched, he added.
Karanji Lake Nature Park is under the management of Mysuru zoo. It is a major source of water for the zoo, and draws various species of birds for nesting every year.
Lingambudi lake comes under the notified reserve forest and is under the control of the Forest Department, which had developed a portion of the lake to attract visitors.
The lake environs have been one of the key habitats for many bird species, including aquatic and terrestrial, which nest and breed on the trees on the lake bed.
The department held a meeting with poultry farm managements and asked them to take strict precautions over the bird flu case at the zoo, he said. Dr. Murthy said there was no need to panic since the situation was not alarming with the bird deaths being confined to the zoo.
