The Thane District Administration in Maharashtra has decided to cull nearly 25,000 birds after some 100 chickens had died in a poultry farm due to avian influenza.
The chicken were found dead in a poultry farm in Vehloli village of Shahapur tehsil in Thane district, and birds falling in a kilometre radius of it will be killed in the coming days.
The district animal husbandry department has been ordered to take measures to control the infection.
The development comes days after it was reported that there was an outbreak of the highly contagious H5N1 bird flu virus on a poultry research farm in Bihar.
According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) the virus killed 787 out of 3,859 birds on the farm in Patna and all of the remaining birds were slaughtered.
The outbreak started on January 18 and was reported on February 16, according to the report.
H5N1, also know as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A, can infect humans, unlike most strains of bird flu.
According to the US CDC, more than 700 human infections with H5N1 viruses have been reported to WHO since November 2003.
H5N1 viruses have infected the respiratory tract of humans, causing severe illness including pneumonia and respiratory failure and death in some people.
The majority of human infections with H5N1 have occurred among children and adults younger than 40 years old. Mortality has been highest in people aged 10-19 years old and in young adults.
Avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, is an infectious viral disease of birds (especially wild waterfowl such as ducks and geese). Wild birds can carry the virus without showing symptoms of it and transmit it to poultry through their feathers or feces.
Sporadic outbreaks of bird flu are not uncommon in India, especially in areas with a high density of migratory birds.
In December 2021, bird flu outbreaks were reported from Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.
In July last year, India also reported the first known case of human death from bird flu.
An 11-year-old boy who was admitted to AIIMS on July 2 with pneumonia had tested negative for COVID-19 after which an influenza test was conducted.
According to AIIMS, the boy was infected with the H5N1 strain of avian influenza.
The patient died after ten days of treatment and his source of infection has remained a mystery.
Almost all cases of H5N1 infection in people have been associated with close contact with infected live or dead birds, or H5N1-contaminated environments.
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