After the outbreak of an avian flu was reported in Pakistan, the government here has put its monitoring centres stationed along the Line of Control and International Borders on "extra alert".
"We have kept our field officers on extra alert in the border regions to monitor any emergency arisen due to the outbreak of H5N1 virus in Pakistan," said Dr Farooq Kaloo, deputy director Animal Husbandry.
"The field officials have been asked to remain vigilant within the 5-km strip from the actual border." Having close geographic proximity with Kashmir, there is every possibility that the bird flu disease might spread from Pakistan to this side. The government sounded alert in occupied Kashmir after some media reports from Pakistan suggested that the deadly virus has been detected in birds there.
Kaloo said that his department was collecting information on daily basis from its centres to ascertain that no virus from across the border reaches here. "We are also taking help of army and BSF in this connection since they are familiar with the area. They are collecting samples of birds and sending it to us. We have also asked them to keep an eye on unusual mortality of birds. Besides, they are also educating people of these regions about the dreaded disease."
Meanwhile, the government has banned the import of poultry and poultry products from Uttar Pardesh (UP), Bihar, West Bengal and Chattisgarh. "The ban was slapped today on birds, eggs and feed that come from these states after bird flu was found there," Kaloo said.
The department has constituted more than 900 field centres for the surveillance of the disease. Kaloo said that they have also intensified checking of the poultry trucks at the main entry points to the valley.
The scientists around the world have found that migratory birds are the main carriers of the bird flu virus. Getting sensitised by this, the government has also taken some precautionary steps to tackle the disease.
"Special units have been deputed to the major wetlands of the valley to keep an eye on any unusual mortality among the migratory birds. They are collecting samples on daily basis which are then send to Bhopal for examination," Kaloo informed.
"However, till date no migratory bird has been detected with H5N1 virus," he added. Few days back, two migratory birds were found dead in the Gahrana wetland in Jammu. The officials suspecting that birds might die due to viral attack later sent the samples of dead birds to Bhopal. Though, the report is yet awaited.
The strain of avian influenza among birds is highly communicable among birds. It can also prove deadly to humans. Since 2003, the flu virus has killed at least 210 people worldwide.