ARD done with flu check

MALDA, April 3: The animal resources development (ARD) department has completed post-operative surveillance work in the Bird Flu affected areas in English Bazaar.

The ARD officials collected samples from the birds in the last four phases, centering on the epicentre ~ Satgharia village under Norhatta gram panchayat in English Bazaar block ~ where Bird Flu had resurfaced in December of last year.

“More than 1,900 samples were collected from the surveillance zone and have been sent for laboratory tests. But currently we do not have any positive report on avian influenza,” Mr NK Sit, the deputy director of the ARD in Malda, said.

Following the state's instructions, ARD officials in the district have also been collecting 12 samples every month from each block of Bird Flu-hit Malda district, identifying ailing poultry birds and those suspected of carrying the disease.

Mr Sit said there had been discussions around sending orders to the department for all poultry farms and instances of household rearing within five km of the India-Bangladesh border to be identified.

“We have heard such discussions, but no specific instruction has reached us as yet,” Mr Sit said.

The deputy director also said the ARD department had instructed them to train villagers, ensuring that each village has a resource person to be assigned the duty of conveying information about infected birds in the remote villages.

Both the block livestock development officer (BLDO) and veterinary officer (VO) will help perform this training work. These resource persons will then keep a watch out for Bird Flu in their respective villages.

"The ongoing training programme has been hampered as, due to the imminent general elections, gram panchayat officials have been unable to select persons to be trained for this job," the deputy director admitted.

“The BLDO and VO have partly completed the training programmes, as some panchayat officials have been able to give the names of villagers suitable for becoming resource persons. After the elections, this work will be completed,” said Mr Sit. n SNS