Maharashtra: Over 4,000 chicks dead due to bird flu in Latur district

Representational Image. (Pic/Pexels)

About 4,200 chicks were found dead in a poultry farm in Latur district in Maharashtra, days after nearly 60 crows succumbed to bird flu, an official said on Thursday, PTI reported.

The five to six-day-old birds died in the Dhalegaon village, Ahmedpur tehsil, and samples of the carcasses have been sent to the State Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Pune's Aundh on Wednesday, he said.

Deputy Commissioner for Animal Husbandry Dr Shridhar Shinde said that their team had visited the site, PTI cited.

As per officials, the baby chickens died over a span of two to three days. The owner of the poultry farm did not immediately alert the authorities about the deaths, which led to the infection spreading and kill almost 4,200 of the 4,500 chicks he had bought, they said.

According to PTI, Dr Shivaji Kshirsagar, deputy commissioner of the Ahmedpur veterinary hospital, has requested the owners to get their poultry farms registered and keep the local officials informed in case of such incidents.

Earlier this month, nearly 60 crows were found dead in Udgir city in Latur district. Tests by the Pune-based Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory and the ICAR - National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal, confirmed that bird flu was the cause of the deaths, officials had said.

Maharashtra: Bird flu behind crow deaths in Latur

Nearly 51 crows have died of bird flu in Latur district in Maharashtra, and authorities have started taking preventive measures to contain the spread of the disease, an official said on Sunday.

A report from the Bhopal Veterinary Laboratory that arrived on Saturday revealed that the crows in Udgir city have died of Avian Influenza (H5N1), Deputy Commissioner for Animal Husbandry Dr Shridhar Shinde said. As many as 51 crows were found dead in different parts of Udgir town till Saturday (January 18), he said.

The authorities have been receiving complaints about dead birds in gardens, among other areas in the city, since January 13. Officials visited the affected areas, and six carcasses were sent to the laboratory on January 14 to ascertain the cause of death, the official said.

The district administration has initiated preventive measures to contain the spread of the disease.

Latur collector Varsha Thakur-Ghuge has issued directives under the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act, declaring alert zones within a 10-km radius of where the carcasses were found. The order prohibits the movement of citizens and the transportation of birds and animals.

(With inputs from Agencies)