Nine Human Samples Sent To NIV, Pune For Bird Flu Test
May 19, 2026 at 4:46 PM IST
Nandurbar: Following the detection of a Bird Flu outbreak in the Navapur tehsil of the Nandurbar district in Maharashtra, the Health Department has taken precautionary measures.
A full-fledged team of 22 staff, including medical doctors, have been deployed to take preventive measures. As part of it, medical examinations are being conducted on employees of the affected poultry farms, as well as on personnel from the Animal Husbandry Department who participated in the culling operations of the affected poultry. Blood samples have been collected from nine people and have been sent to a laboratory in Pune for testing.
Samples sent for testing
"Health department has
deployed a full team of 22 medical staff to inspect the poultry farms at Navapur after the outbreak of bird flu. 2 officers, 8 CHO and five health workers. They conducted a survey to check if any workers had also been afflicted with bird flu. They undertook preventive measures. We have been distributing Tamiflu tablets too," Dr Ravindra Sonawane, District Health Officer, Nandurbar, told ETV Bharat.
"We have been conducting tests of people working in the poultry farms and have sent 9 samples for further testing to ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune. This is also part of the preventive measures," added Sonawane.
This process is being implemented by the administration as a precautionary measure to prevent any potential human from getting infected.
Culling of poultry
Large-scale culling operations are currently underway at affected poultry farms in the Nawapur area, and joint efforts are being made by the Animal Husbandry Department, the Health Department, and the Revenue Administration to bring the situation under control. Among the measures, the teams have begun sanitising and disinfecting the premises and are involved in taking preventive measures on the affected poultry farms.
The district health department has urged citizens in the affected areas to remain vigilant and has instructed them to immediately contact a health centre if they observe symptoms like fever, cough, or respiratory distress.
Furthermore, directives have been issued to avoid unnecessary crowding in the vicinity of the poultry farms, while the culling measures are underway.
Dr Sonawane said,
"The administration is continuously monitoring the situation, and all necessary measures to prevent the transmission of Bird Flu to humans are being implemented on a war footing. Blood and swab samples from suspected individuals have been collected and sent to the laboratory."
Action plan in progress
Special teams have been deployed by the Health Department in the affected areas. Regular health check-ups of poultry farm employees and members of the culling teams are being conducted by the District Health Department. Medicines, masks, sanitisers, and PPE kits have been made available in the affected regions.
Four lakh chickens had been culled, apart from destroying over 22 lakh eggs and feed worth over Rs 5 lakh.
15 poultry farms have been affected. They have asked for compensation after their birds and feed were destroyed during the culling operation.
https://www.etvbharat.com/en/state/...-to-niv-pune-for-bird-flu-test-enn26051901960
