Human case of bird flu detected in Puri

Bhubaneswar : The Odisha Health department is on its toes following detection of a suspected case of avian influenza (bird flu) infection in a man in Puri district. Odisha Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling on Wednesday said the department was fully prepared to tackle the situation.

“The Health department officials have been placed on high alert and surveillance has been intensified in Pipili and Satyabadi blocks of Puri district. The affected areas have been placed under two-layered surveillance, within a 1 km and 10 km radius. The Asha workers have been sensitising people through door-to-door visits,” said Mahaling. He further said N95 masks and Tamiflu tablets are being distributed in the affected areas of the two blocks of Puri district. This apart, the Health department officials are distributing pamphlets with details regarding bird flu and precautionary measures to be taken by the people.

Meanwhile, State Public Health Director Nilakantha Mishra clarified that after detection of bird flu symptoms in a person at Mangalpur Community Health Centre, his samples have been collected and sent to Regional Medical Research Centre, Bhubaneswar, and Indian Institute of Virology, Pune, for testing. He said whether the person is infected with bird flu or not can only be confirmed after the receipt of his report from the two centres after around seven days. The person has been put in isolation and his health condition is stable.

Mishra said people should avoid eating chicken in bird flu-affected areas. However, he clarified that there was no fear of infection in other parts of the State. A control room has been set up in Pipili and an Isolation Room opened at Mangalpur CHC in the wake of detection of suspected cases of bird flu.

Notably, the H5N1 virus was recently detected in the chicken farms in the two blocks of Puri district by ICAR-National Institute of High Security Animal Disease.

The State government immediately swung into action and started mass culling of chickens and sanitisation of the farms. Sources said Rapid Response Teams have culled more than 25,000 birds in 10 villages during the last four days and buried them as per the protocol in the two blocks of Puri.