The bird flu scare gripped Darjeeling, which reported some chicken deaths, and Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur district, where over 2,500 birds were culled, on Thursday.According to officials, over 2,500 arrived in Varanasi on Wednesday as part of a consignment from Burdwan district of West Bengal. The consignment was sent from Varanasi to Shahjahanpur, where it was traced by the police and all the chicken were culled.One person has been detained in this connection. Though there is no case of bird flu in the state so far, the authorities have been put on alert.In Darjeeling, District Magistrate Rajesh Pandey said 38 chicken died at Takdah village on Wednesday night. The blood samples have been sent for testing and the administration would chalk out an action plan after getting the results. Meanwhile, the Centre on Thursday allayed fears of the spread of bird flu in Haryana, sparked by the poultry deaths at a farm there.The Haryana Government has informed the Centre that the samples from the farm has tested negative.“Based on the tests conducted in a state university laboratory, the Haryana Government has informed that the tests are negative for avian influenza. But, we have asked the state Government to send the samples to HSADL, Bhopal, for final confirmation,” said the Animal Husbandry Secretary, Pradeep Kumar, on Thursday.Kumar said the culling operations in West Bengal are in the last phase, and the focus is now gradually shifting to surveillance operations in the affected districts to check the disease from breaking again. He said while about 326 teams are engaged in culling, over 300 teams are involved in surveillance and mopping-up operations.In Kolkata, West Bengal Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rahman said the culling target has gone up to 28 lakh as the disease has spread to new areas. He is scheduled to visit all the 14 affected districts and submit a report to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Tuesday.“The situation is now under control,” he claimed. Committees have been formed at the district and block levels to prepare a list of the affected families.
