No Humans Infected by Bird Flu in Odisha: Health Dept

Bhubaneswar: Dispelling rumours of a person from the Pipili area in Puri district infected by bird flu, the Odisha Health Department on Wednesday issued a statement clarifying that till now no confirmed case of avian influenza in human beings has been detected from Odisha.

According to the state Health Department, the samples collected from the suspected person from the Pipili area in Puri district have tested negative for H5N1 infection.

As rumours surfaced that a person was down with influenza-like illness (ILI) symptoms, his swab samples were sent to RMRC for a test and it came out negative.

Health department is conducting daily house-to-house visits on to identify persons with symptoms of ILI and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) after bird samples were found to be positive for H5N1 in Pipili and Satyabadi areas.

An isolation ward has been opened at Mangalpur community health centre to quarantine the suspected persons.

Till now, over 30,000 chickens have been culled as precautionary measure to contain bird flu threat. All affected poultry farmers be provided compensation of Rs 20 for one small chicken and Rs 70 for larger ones by the government, said state Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Minister Gokulananda Mallik.