Bird carcasses trigger avian flu scare in Manipur

By Syed Zarir Hussain, Imphal:

Wildlife officials have set up dozens of watch posts along the border with Myanmar to monitor signs of avian flu after the deaths of some migratory birds in India's northeast state of Manipur.

A wildlife official said locals in Tamenglong district of Manipur, bordering Myanmar, spotted carcasses of at least five to six red-footed falcons in the past one week prompting authorities to sound an alert.

"We have set up several monitoring cells along the Myanmar border where the concentration of the red-footed falcons is the maximum. Veterinarians and wildlife officials are on alert and closely observing the situation," he said.

Tamenglong District Magistrate T. Panmei added that officials recovered the carcass of one dead bird and sent it for forensic tests to identify the cause of the death.

"We have launched a massive awareness campaign in the area about bird flu and asked locals to report any deaths of migratory birds," Panmei said.

Flocks of the red-footed falcon arrive to breeding grounds in the Barak river in Tamenglong district during the winter season from Central Europe and Asia.

An estimated 450,000 of these birds have already arrived in Tamenglong and were nesting on trees and in bamboo plantations, wildlife officials said. Local authorities in Tamenglong have imposed a ban on the sale and consumption of poultry items in the district as a precautionary measure.

There has been no reported case of bird flu in India but the spread of the virus by migratory birds to Europe from Asia has led to concern in many parts of the northeast with migratory birds flocking to the region with the onset of winter.

Authorities at the Kaziranga National Park in Assam have also sounded an alert last week with thousands of birds from China and Siberia arriving in the sanctuary that is home to the world's largest population of one-horned rhinoceros.

"There is no need for panic but we don't want to take any chances and hence alerted our personnel to keep a strict vigil and monitor any abnormality in migratory birds or their carcasses found inside the sanctuary," Kaziranga park warden N.K. Vasu told IANS.

Fears of bird flu spreading deepened after China earlier this week reported another outbreak in poultry.

There has been a spate of fresh cases in Asia and on the western edge of Europe ahead of the winter, when experts say the deadly H5N1 strain thrives best.

source: newkerala