Gujarat rushes vet teams to Surat

The Gujarat government has rushed about 11 veterinary teams and has set up a 24-hour monitoring cell in Surat district is close to Nandurbar district of Maharashtra from where bird flu cases have been reported, officials said.

"A 24-hour monitoring cell has been formed in Surat district and 11 veterinary teams have been rushed to the district which is in close proximity to Nandurbar," said D K Rao, secretary of the animal husbandry department of Gujarat.

"The teams each consisting of a Veterinary officer and live-stock inspectors have been sent to bordering taluka of Uchachal in Surat district," Rao said.

Bird flu cases strike Maharashtra

"They will vaccinate the poultry in the district from tomorrow to prevent the disease from spreading across the state border," he said.

"A monitoring committee has also been set up at Surat, which will keep a close watch on the developments in the entire region in South Gujarat," Rao said.

"The centre has asked the state government to maintain high level of surveillance in the districts which shares its border with Maharashtra," he said.

Rao said that Gujarat had only nine poultry farms with about 18,000 birds. "About 100 of these birds have died in the last 10-12 days in Gujarat. But this rate of the death of the birds are normal," he added.

He said that the state government officials were working in co-ordination with the Rapid Reaction Group set up by the government of India to tackle the bird flu virus.

The director and the top officials of the animal husbandry department have rushed to Surat. "We have also briefed the Surat district collector about the situation," Rao said. "Our priority is to ensure that the virus does not spread into our state," he said.

Meanwhile, Surat district collector Vatsala Vasudevan said the district administration has suspended the entry of poultry from nearby Navapur town of Nandurbar district.

"We are closely monitoring the situation here and we are keeping a close watch on the poultry in the district," said Surat district collector Vatsala Vasudevan.

"As a precautionary measure we have restricted the entry of poultry from Maharashtra to Uchachal taluka which shares its border with Nandubar district," she remarked.

Both Navapur and Nandurbar in Maharashtra, from where large scale poultry deaths have been reported, share close proximity with Surat and Dang districts of Gujarat. "All precautionary measures are being taken in the district," Vasudevan added.