Centre confirms avian flu outbreak in Bengaluru village

The central government on Friday confirmed the outbreak of H5 avian influenza in the Dasarahalli village of Bengaluru, following which the Karnataka government initiated control and containment programme.

Dasarahalli is located to the east of Bengaluru city, Bengaluru East Taluk in Bengaluru Urban District.

Birds in some poultry farm in the village had started dying in December, which triggered panic, the government said. After this, the area was quarantined, the birds were culled and samples were sent to the Bhopal institute for testing.

As many as 940 birds were culled within 1km of Dasarahalli by three rapid action teams, PTI quoted principal secretary of the Animal Husbandry Department, Rajkumar Khatri, as saying.

The samples from the said epicenter (a poultry meat shop) were sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal which on 30 December 2017 confirmed that the samples were found positive for H5 strain of avian influenza virus.

The state government has been intimated of the positive results immediately and the Karnataka government has notified the outbreak and initiated the control and containment operations.

Experts from the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries are overseeing the operation and assisting the state government in containing the avian disease.

The agriculture ministry said the situation is fully under control and there has been no further reports of mortality from the state or any other part of the country.