Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi has also reported bird flu cases after a similar outbreak at a poultry firm in Bokaro district last month.

Out of the eight samples sent to the Eastern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ERDDL) at Belgachia in Calcutta on February 28, one was found to be positive and was sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) laboratory in Bhopal for final confirmation. The report from Bhopal, which came on Friday evening, confirmed that the lone sample collected from a private poultry unit near Jail More in Ranchi has H5N1, a type of avian influenza virus.

The state animal husbandry department sent out an alert on Friday evening across the capital city, demarcating the 1km radius around the poultry unit as the affected area and the 10km radius as the surveillance zone.

“We have asked the Ranchi animal husbandry unit and the Ranchi district administration to start culling all poultry (chickens) and destroying eggs and feeds within the 1km radius and closing down all poultry shops in the affected area for a week. Further, the entry and exit of all sorts of poultry products have been prohibited. All people whose chickens will be killed and eggs destroyed will get compensation in accordance with government norms,” Jharkhand animal husbandry director Chandan Kumar said.

The Union ministry of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying also sent a letter to Jharkhand chief secretary Sukhdev Singh on Friday, informing him about the avian influenza confirmation report and asking the state government to take immediate measures.

It has also sought a daily report on the control and containment operations being carried out in the affected area and surveillance zone. The report will be notified to the World Organisation for Animal Health. The central ministry has also advised surveillance throughout the state to monitor the spread of infection.

In the last week of February, the NIHSAD laboratory detected avian influenza (H5N1) in samples received from a government poultry farm at Bokaro, around 120km from Ranchi.

Bokaro animal husbandry officer Manoj Kumar said culling was carried out in the affected area and compensation would be paid to the affected poultry owners. He said no further chicken deaths have been reported anywhere in the district.

The state animal husbandry department has asked the district administration, including the police, to help the Ranchi animal husbandry unit carry out surveys of poultry firms in the affected zone and conduct an awareness drive on avoiding contact with sick chickens.

Those having chickens and birds have been asked to immediately inform the administration if symptoms such as swelling around the eyes, neck and head, discharge from the eyes, bluish colour in the crest and legs, sudden weakness, falling feathers, and loss of appetite are noticed.