No human case of bird flu detected, says Mahaling

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has rolled out micro and ground-level action plan to contain bird flu in the State, Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling has said.

According to the Directorate of Public Health, no confirmed case of avian influenza in human has been detected in Odisha so far, Mahaling clarified.

The minister said the action plan was initiated after reports of outbreak of bird flu in two blocks, Satyabadi and Pipili, in Puri district, on August 23 with epicentres at Rai Chakradharpur and Abalpur. He said the Rapid Response Team (RRT) quickly swung into action, collected samples and sent them for testing. After confirmation of avian influenza from National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal, surveillance and culling were immediately started by the Directorate of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services.

Separate micro plans were implemented in the two affected blocks and house-to-house visits are being conducted daily to actively search for any suspected case of Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI).

The Rapid Response Team has visited the affected areas and daily health check-ups of cullers, farm owners and their family members are being conducted to monitor any symptoms of influenza.

An isolation ward has been set up at Community Health Centre (CHC) in Mangalpur for the quarantine of suspected individuals.

One person from the culling team, who had ILI symptoms even before the culling began, has been isolated and his samples were sent to RMRC-Bhubaneswar for diagnosis, Mahaling said. He has been provided with a treatment dose of Oseltamivir.

Puri Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Rupabhanu Mishra said there is no immediate danger to humans from bird flu.

He said one swab sample has been collected and sent to the lab and the report is expected within a week.

Meanwhile, more than 10,000 chickens have been culled by the Health

department.