# 1847
India's bird flu woes continue as thousands of birds have died over the last 2 weeks in the North Eastern state of Tripura, and tests have come back positive for the H5N1 virus.
Avian influenza cripples Tripura
Agartala: The avian influenza has extended its grip to Tripura as samples from state’s Dhalai district tested positive with thousands of birds dying in the past two weeks, official sources said yesterday.
A red alert has been sounded by the state government to prohibit import of poultry from outside the state, including neighbouring Bangladesh, which shares a 856-km-long porous border with Tripura.
Personnel of BSF and special surveillance teams have been keeping tab in these border areas, the sources said.
Tripura was gripped by the flu scare after at least 3,000 birds, including poultry, died in three villages of Mohanpur, Malaya and Tilagang in Kamalpur sub-division in Dhalai district bordering Bangladesh, the sources said.
Samples of the dead poultry were then sent to the high-security Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Bhopal, on Thursday. The samples tested positive according to preliminary reports received yesterday, the sources added.
An alarmed state administration has decided to cull 25,000 birds in eight gram panchayat areas which falls within five-km radius of the affected villages.
