http://abcasiapacific.com/news/stories/asiapacific_stories_1657925.htm
Bird flu has subsided in India with no new cases reported since March, according to the top official in charge of prevention efforts.
The H5N1 strain of avian influenza, which has killed more than 125 people worldwide since 2003, was first diagnosed in India in February when thousands of birds were found dead in Navapur in the western state of Maharashtra.
Within weeks it had spread to nearby areas including the neighbouring state of Gujarat.
About 1 million birds were culled in a radius of 10 kilometres from the affected areas but no human infections have been reported.
P.M.A. Hakeem, secretary of the department of animal husbandry and dairying, the central body dealing with the crisis, said there had been no reported cases of the virus.
"We feel that it has subsided," he said. "Of course, the onset of summer has also helped in containing this."
He said that apart from the affected pockets of Maharashtra and Gujarat, samples collected from all the other states where there was a suspicion of avian influenza had tested negative.
"In the practical sense we are free because there have been no cases in the past two-and-a-half months," he said, adding that India was now following a drill laid out by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), conducting surveys and tests around the affected areas.
Mr Hakeem is hopeful that India will be declared free from the virus within the next six months.
Bird flu has subsided in India with no new cases reported since March, according to the top official in charge of prevention efforts.
The H5N1 strain of avian influenza, which has killed more than 125 people worldwide since 2003, was first diagnosed in India in February when thousands of birds were found dead in Navapur in the western state of Maharashtra.
Within weeks it had spread to nearby areas including the neighbouring state of Gujarat.
About 1 million birds were culled in a radius of 10 kilometres from the affected areas but no human infections have been reported.
P.M.A. Hakeem, secretary of the department of animal husbandry and dairying, the central body dealing with the crisis, said there had been no reported cases of the virus.
"We feel that it has subsided," he said. "Of course, the onset of summer has also helped in containing this."
He said that apart from the affected pockets of Maharashtra and Gujarat, samples collected from all the other states where there was a suspicion of avian influenza had tested negative.
"In the practical sense we are free because there have been no cases in the past two-and-a-half months," he said, adding that India was now following a drill laid out by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), conducting surveys and tests around the affected areas.
Mr Hakeem is hopeful that India will be declared free from the virus within the next six months.