No case of bird flu in Odisha, says government

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], January 9 : Amid the emergence of Avian Influenza in several states in the country, the Odisha government on Friday said it is taking regular surveillance measures but no case of bird flu has been detected in the state yet.
As per an official release, the state government has requested the people not to panic and consume chicken meat, eggs and other poultry products after cooking them properly.
"There is no bird flu detected in Odisha. Regular surveillance measures are being taken up through the collection of tracheal swabs, cloacal swabs, environmental samples and serum samples of the birds by field veterinarians. Animal Disease Research Institute (ADRI) at the state level, Clinical Investigation Laboratory (CIL) and State Veterinary Laboratory (SVL) at the regional level and District Diagnostic Laboratory (DDL) at the district level have been geared up with full strength for collection and testing of the samples," it said.
The government said the samples are being sent to Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL) at Kolkota for testing and so far all samples have been tested negative for Avian Influenza.
"Until now around 12,158 samples have been tested during the current bird migratory season," the government stated.
It has also requested the people to report any unnatural death of birds to the nearest veterinary or to the state control room.