GUWAHATI: Alarmed by the outbreak of bird flu in neighbouring West Bengal, an alert has been sounded in all the bordering districts of Assam to prevent the spread of the disease in the state.
The alert was sounded in Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Goalpara and Bongaigaon districts after a confirmation about the outbreak of bird flu in West Bengal, a senior official of the animal husbandry and veterinary department said.
Precautionary measures are also being taken in all the districts where investigations were conducted to detect outbreak of the avian flu, the official said.
The commissioner of the department held a meeting on Thursday to take stock of the situation and a central team was sent to the bordering districts to study the situation there, he said.
The Rapid Response Teams were also on alert all over the state with their chairman and the district deputy commissioners asked to monitor the situation and keep a close vigil on the developments, he said.
Asserting there was no panic in the state following the outbreak of birdflu in West Bengal, the official said, the measures taken were only of precautionary nature.
The Regional Diagnostic Laboratory here had also collected blood samples to send them to Hyderabad for analysis.
Stating there was no ban on the sale of chicken in Assam, the official allayed fears on consumption of the poultry if it was boiled at 70 degree centigrade which rendered the birds safe for consumption.
As the bulk of the nearly 7,000 kg poultry entering the North East region markets daily from West Bengal was consumed in Assam, an uneasy situation prevailed in the markets here with buyers unwilling to buy chicken registering a drastic fall in its sale.
The All Assam Poultry Association wanted the government to ban procurement of poultry from West Bengal as they could be infected.
