Kathmandu. The Department of Livestock Services has mobilized technical teams to prevent the spread of bird flu in the Kathmandu Valley and its surrounding areas. The Department has stepped up surveillance by conducting regular sample tests through various laboratories.

Department’s Director-General Dr Umesh Dahal said the Department of Health and Population Control has been accorded top priority as Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur and Kavre are vulnerable districts to the infection. According to him, the infection that started three months ago has spread to 11 different districts.

Birdflu infection was confirmed in around one hundred poultry farms, which destroyed birds, eggs and feed. The department, which has been urged not to keep new chicks for about one and a half months, has called for high alertness. The infection has been confirmed in farms in Chandragiri, Kirtipur, Tokha, Tarakeshwor, Godavari, Changunarayan and Suryabinayak areas of the Kathmandu Valley.

In the absence of an effective vaccine and treatment for bird flu, the virus is highly contagious and the best option is to destroy poultry and other birds. Stating that the infection could spread to humans as well, Director General of the Department urged bird entrepreneurs and consumers to adopt extra precaution to control the infection as soon as possible.

A bird flu coordination committee has been formed under the coordination of Director General of the Department and a bird flu coordination committee under the leadership of Chief District Officer in the district. Department’s Information Officer Mukul Upadhyay said that the government has decided to provide compensation up to 75 per cent of the cost price to the farmers based on the rate determined by the committee based on the evidence of the destroyed chickens, eggs and feed.