Approximately 1,700 migratory birds were found dead, mostly bar-headed geese, in mysterious circumstances in and around Pong Dam Lake in the district of Kangra and prompted the authorities to stop tourism within the state.
In certain parts of the district, the selling and purchasing of poultry have also been prohibited as a precautionary measure against the threat of a bird flu outbreak. In the past few days, three states in the country have detected cases of Avian Influenza.
Rakesh Kumar Prajapati, the District Magistrate of Kangra, ordered that no human or animal be permitted to enter the reservoir for approximately one kilometer until notice has been given. In order to track the event, a monitoring zone with a radius of nine kilometers was also set up around the water body.
Prajapati has prohibited the slaughter, sale, purchase, and export of any poultry, birds, fish of any kind and related items, including eggs, beef, chicken, etc., in the districts of Fatehpur, Dehra, Jawali, and Indora, by official order.
The official exercising his powers under Sections 34 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, confirmed that stores selling these goods will also remain closed in these four subdivisions, as reported by the PTI news agency.
Bird flu is a highly contagious and serious respiratory disease in birds caused by the H5N1 influenza virus, which may sometimes infect humans as well.
On Monday, the government of Kerala announced that cases of Avian Influenza strain H5N8 were identified in Alappuzha and Kottayam. In the last few days, about 12,000 ducks have died in the affected areas, while another 36,000 are likely to be slaughtered, a state minister said.
Hundreds of crows have been found dead in Rajasthan. In the Jhalawar district and several other towns, including Jaipur, the virus has been confirmed in dead crows, officials said. Cases of influenza were also found in Madhya Pradesh.