Amid coronavirus scare, bird deaths create panic in Kashmir

Bird deaths in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district have created panic in the Valley with locals taking the death as a case of the bird flu virus.

Reports said several birds, including eagles, were found dead in some parts of Uri near the Line of Control (LoC) and in a village in Sopore in Baramulla. The dead birds were spotted in the villages Cholan, Mohra, Parampeelan of Uri while dead birds were also spotted in Hardshiva, Sopore.

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After the reports authorities dispatched a team of officials to ascertain the cause of the death. Chief Animal Husbandry Officer Baramulla, Dr S M Anwar Andrabi confirmed that they have spotted dead birds at Cholan and Hardshiva, Sopore.

“The specimen of such birds will be sent to Bhopal to a hi-tech laboratory and the actual cause of the death of birds will be ascertained,” he said.

A local official said that the cause of death of these birds could also be due to starvation following the heavy snowfall across Kashmir. “Accumulation of snow prevents birds from fetching food, resulting in their starvation and death,” he said.

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Last week Jammu & Kashmir government banned the import of poultry until January 14, after the Centre issued advisories asking local authorities to keep a close vigil to contain the spread of avian influenza or bird flu.

Authorities have also instructed the animal husbandry department officials to keep a close watch on the situation, especially in the poultry farms even, as no bird flu case has been reported in the Union Territory yet.

Thousands of birds have died in Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh since the beginning of the outbreak in December-end.