Minister for Animal Husbandry A Manju on Friday said that the suspected outbreak of avian flu at a chicken outlet in Dasarahalli had been contained and that chicken and eggs were safe for consumption.
He also said that samples sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal, from a poultry farm in (Karasawadi village) in Mandya, were found to have the H5 strain of virus, and not the H5N1 virus. The H5 virus, he said, does not affect humans.
Officials said that after the outbreak in Dasarahalli, as many as 942 birds in the 10 km radius of the chicken outlet had been culled. While the area was under surveillance, all chicken stores in one km radius of the epicentre would be closed for another month.
As per the guidelines issued by the Centre, during the surveillance period, the department is required to send samples from the epicentre four times. Samples will be sent once every 15 days, starting from January 22.
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