Meghalaya to maintain vigil against bird flu

SHILLONG, Jan 30: Even though Meghalaya has not seen any cases of bird flu so far, the state government has vowed to continue with its vigil against the virus.
Principal Secretary, Animal and Husbandry department, GHP Raju, conferred that the main reason for not seeing any cases in the Northeast, including Meghalaya, is the fact that the Assam government restricted poultry products from mainland India from entering the state, which was followed by Meghalaya as well.
He further assured that this vigil will continue and the state government has been monitoring the situation at regular intervals.
“Once we get clearance from the Union government, only then we will think of relaxing the norms,” Raju said.
It may be mentioned that 90 per cent of the poultry products in the state come from mainland India.
Thus far, twenty-eight outbreaks of the Avian Influenza have been confirmed in nine states (Kerala, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab) for poultry birds and in twelve states (Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab) for crow/ migratory/ wild birds.