Asserting that there were no instances of avian influenza in the State so far, Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav on Tuesday said that all precautionary measures have been put in place to avoid the incidence of bird flu.
“The government, at the same time, will extend all cooperation to the poultry industry in case of any eventuality,” he said. Mr. Srinivas Yadav, accompanied by Health Minister Eatala Rajender and Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, conducted a meeting with senior officials and industry representatives to review the situation arising out of reports of bird flu in some States on Tuesday.
He said that the State was ranked third in the country in terms of poultry production and products from the State were being exported to other States as well as abroad. As reports about the incidence of bird flu in some States were received, the Animal Husbandry and Health departments were alerted for taking necessary precautions.
As many as 1,300 rapid response teams were constituted. The officials of Animal Husbandry, Health and Forest departments at State, district and mandal levels were asked to effectively coordinate and take measures to avoid scope for occurrence of the disease.
Following reports on the death of birds in Nalgonda, Warangal and Peddapalli, 276 samples were collected from the three districts and sent for examination. All of the samples tested negative. In all, 1,000 samples from different parts of the State tested so far, yielded negative reports. The government had taken measures to create awareness among people on the steps taken to prevent scope for bird flu in the State in the interests of the poultry industry.
Mr. Rajender said that there was no impact of bird flu on people even earlier, although the industry was impacted by the virus in the past. Poultry products like chicken and eggs give valuable proteins required by the body at low cost and the government was committed to protecting the interests of the sector.
In addition to senior officials from the departments concerned, representatives of Breeders Association, Poultry Federation, NECC and others attended the meeting.
