The health department in Jharkhand has issued an alert after the spread of bird flu (H5N1) in a poultry farm located in the Veterinary College of Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi.
Mission Director of National Health Mission (NHM), Jharkhand, Abu Imran, issued an alert to the civil surgeons of all the districts and instructed them to take necessary precautions on Wednesday.
Following the directive, Rapid Response Teams have been formed in all the districts in view of the bird flu threat. These teams have been instructed to provide medicines and necessary treatment to the high-risk group if infection is confirmed in humans.
The disease can spread to humans by coming in contact with infected birds, chickens or guinea fowl.
As of now continuous monitoring of birds and humans is being done in a 10 km radius of the affected area.
Also, high-risk patients have been asked to be isolated and monitored for 10 days. If anyone shows symptoms of bird flu, their clinical samples will be taken and tested.
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More than 150 chicken and 12 quails have died in the BAU poultry farm. When the birds died suddenly, their samples were sent to the ICAR-NISHAD lab in Bhopal for testing, where H5N1 infection was confirmed.
If symptoms of bird flu are found in humans too, their clinical samples will be tested in the Microbiology Department of RIMS, Ranchi. Infected people will be quarantined at home. Quarantine guidelines in rural areas will be decided as per the Health Department.
All districts have been instructed to keep antiviral medicines (Tamiflu), PPE kits, masks and VTM kits ready. Dedicated isolation ward - Separate isolation wards and beds have been asked to be arranged for potential bird flu patients.
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