Bird flu scare thick in Himachal air

Himachal Pradesh: Wildlife officials have gone on alert for bird flu while fear has gripped the locals in northern Himachal Pradesh, where more than 200,000 migratory birds have arrived to nest in the winters.

India, which has reported no case of the deadly virus till now, is keeping a watchful eye on these birds.

Thousands of migratory birds flock to the picturesque Kangra valley every year and any trace of bird flu can spell doom for Himachal Pradesh's poultry industry.

The famed Pong Dam reservoir nestled in the Kangra valley is a habitat for migratory birds and attracts bird watchers in droves.

Wild life mapping reports state that nearly 20,000 birds from over 220 species visit the dam's lake every year.

The arrivals here in winters include the white-necked storks, ruddy shell-duck, bar-headed geese, cormorants, mallards and red-necked and black-necked grebes.

Migratory birds like ruddy shelduck, bar-headed geese, gulls, and shovellers that ate believed to be carrying the deadly H5N1 strain are especially being monitored.

State Animal Husbandry Minister, Harsh Mahajan, says all possible measures are being taken to fight the deadly virus.

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"Our veterinary officers and senior doctors have been briefed and are watching out for the virus. Regular camps have been organised throughout the state where poultry farmers are breeding birds for poultry purposes. Nothing has been found yet but sanitization is on."

The scare of a global avian flu pandemic has gone up ever since reports from China made World Health Organisation authorities sit up.

Bird flu has killed more than 60 people in Asia. In almost every case, the virus appears to have been transmitted to humans through contact with birds.

Experts say the virus that is spreading at an alarming rate in Asia, where farmers and city dwellers live side-by-side with poultry and other livestock, must be contained.

However scientists are far from hopeful and are saying that the virus is steadily mutating and could acquire changes that would make it spread from human to human.