No poultry from US, Europe too

The Centre today extended the ban on import of poultry products to cover US and Europe, none of which have reported cases of bird flu so far...

The Centre today extended the ban on import of poultry products to cover US and Europe, none of which have reported cases of bird flu so far. It had banned imports from nine countries yesterday. Surveillance has been increased in border states; passengers of the Samjhauta Express will also be monitored.

Health Minister Sushma Swaraj announced the ban after the first high-level coordination meeting of Health and Agriculture Ministries . ‘‘Attention is being paid to Rajasthan, Gujarat and Punjab, where a red alert has been declared,’’ she said after the meeting attended by Agriculture Minister Rajnath Singh and representatives of WHO and FAO.

Swaraj said no case of bird flu has been reported in the country so far and state governments had been asked to be alert. ‘‘The situation is fully under control,’’ she said, adding the Saarc secretary general has suggested a meeting of agriculture and livestock ministries of member countries.

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The Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Bareilly, and all regional laboratories have been asked to test the samples in case of suspected bird flu deaths and also send the material to High Security Animal Disease Lab (HSADL) at Bhopal.

The states have been asked to activate the State Animal Disease Emergency Committee to tackle the situation.