NEW DELHI, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- A large number of crows died due to avian flu in India's western state of Rajasthan, officials said Thursday.
The carcasses have been found in and around Radi area of Jhalawar district, about 340 km south of Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan.
Authorities have rushed a rapid response team to collect samples and probe the reasons behind crow deaths.
"Over the past week, we have witnessed the death of crows in the area, following which we got in touch with the animal husbandry department, which collected samples and sent them to Bhopal and the reports suggest they have died due to bird flu," Ngikya Gohain, collector Jhalawar said. "Since crows aren't domesticated birds, so we can't order their culling but we have issued an alert to the poultry farm owners."
The government has imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 (a government order) around the area and animal husbandry teams are visiting the poultry farms to see if they have been affected.
"If bird flu is found to have infected poultry in a chicken farm then the chickens will be culled and suitable compensation will be given," Gohain said.
Officials said they have asked people to follow the COVID-19 protocol of frequent washing of hands and maintaining distance, besides wearing facemasks to prevent the spread of infection.
Last year hundreds of migratory birds were found dead around Sambhar Salt Lake, about 80 km southwest of Jaipur. Enditem
