Dead crows in focus amid efforts to trace virus source

Officials are intensifying efforts to trace the source of the avian influenza virus detected at the Gorakhpur zoo.

- Abdur Rahman

LUCKNOW/GORAKHPUR/KANPUR: The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has formed a five-member team to investigate the death of a tigress, whose post-mortem confirmed bird flu (H5N1), and study the impact of avian influenza at the Gorakhpur zoo.

The tigress, Shakti, died at the Shaheed Ashfaq Ullah Khan Zoological Park in Gorakhpur on May 7.

Lab reports from IVRI (Indian Veterinary Research Institute), Bareilly and National Institute of High Security Animal Disease, Bhopal, on May 12 confirmed a bird flu (H5) strain in the sample. Thereafter, all zoos across Uttar Pradesh and the Etawah lion safari were closed for seven days till May 20. Teams from Lucknow and elsewhere have already visited the Gorakhpur Zoo.

The CZA has formed a 5-member team of veterinary doctors and pathologists, confirmed Anuradha Vemuri, principal chief conservator of forest, wildlife, Uttar Pradesh (PCCF-W, UP).

The team has representatives from the ministry of animal husbandry and dairy, wildlife health management department, Wildlife Institute of India (Dehradun), ICAR Bareilly and Bhopal.

The report will be submitted within 15 days. Based on the findings, the future course of action for the zoos and safari parks in the state will be determined," Vemuri said.