The local administration in Gorkha has banned import of poultry in the district after more than 200 chickens died in Jaubari and Gokhu VDCs recently. Authorities suspect that bird flu may have killed the chickens.

Samples of the dead fowl have been sent to the Capital for tests. As a preemptive measure, the remaining fowls at the two farms were also slaughtered recently. A meeting held at the District Administration Office has decided to inspect the coops for possible infection.

Agartala: Timely vaccination of birds and animals, access to standard laboratories and maintaining bio-security are among the measures required to curb the sporadic outbreak of bird flu in India’s northeast, says a team of international and Indian experts touring the region.

Experts of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and India, who are on a five-day visit to Tripura to probe the causes of frequent bird flu outbreaks, have asked the northeastern states to maintain stipulated protocols to stop the contagious disease from resurfacing.

Agartala: Worried at the frequent outbreak of bird flu and its effect on the poultry industry, the Tripura government has decided to urge the Central government to send special expert-teams to study the sporadic resurfacing of the contagious disease, an official said here Saturday.

“Sporadic outbreak of bird flu has been badly affecting the poultry industry in the north-eastern States, bordering Bangladesh, where avian influenza is rampant in many districts,” Animal resources development department director Manoranjan Sarkar said.

The government has declared four villages in Sunsari and Jhapa districts in eastern Nepal as bird flu affected.

The cabinet meeting on Monday decided to send immediate relief to the affected villages and take measures to curb its spread in the neighbouring districts.

The meeting also appointed Pramod Mehta as vice chairman of the Social Welfare Council and Rabindra Rai and Kunja Chaudhary as its members.

Similarly, Urmila BK, Dhaneshwory Chaudhary and Manu Humagain were appointed as the members of the National Women Commission.