Bengaluru: As H5N1 avian influenza has been confirmed at a poultry training centre in Mathkur village, in Hesaraghatta, health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said there is no need for panic as no human cases have been reported so far.The confirmation of avian influenza was based on an April 14 report from NIHSAD, Bhopal. Authorities have initiated immediate containment measures in line with prescribed guidelines, Rao said.“On April 16, state, district and PHC rapid response teams visited the site and declared a three-km radius as an infected zone and the surrounding 10-km area as a surveillance zone. A day earlier, 7,444 chickens, over 14,000 eggs and 2,250 kg of poultry feed were culled and scientifically disposed of. Ten staff involved have been quarantined and placed under medical observation with Oseltamivir,” the minister said.He also said health officials are monitoring 19 villages with a combined population exceeding 25,000, with door-to-door fever surveillance underway. “The public has been advised to remain cautious and avoid contact with sick or dead birds,” he said.
