Maharashtra and Delhi on Monday confirmed the outbreak of the avian influenza , or the bird flu, NDTV reported. With this, nine states – Ut...

Maharashtra and Delhi on Monday confirmed the outbreak of the avian influenza, or the bird flu, NDTV reported. With this, nine states – Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat – have been affected by the spread of avian influenza.
Delhi’s Animal Husbandry Department said that the flu was confirmed after testing eight samples from dead crows and ducks, according to ANI. “All the samples tested positive for avian flu,” the department said.
In Maharashtra, District Collector Deepak Madhukar Muglikar told NDTV that Parbhani, situated about 500 km from the state capital, Mumbai, was the epicentre of the outbreak. “About 800 poultry birds – all hens – died in the last two days,” he said. “Their samples were given for testing. And now it is confirmed that the reason is bird flu.”
Muglikar said that the confirmation came from Murumba village of the district. “There are about eight poultry farms and 8,000 birds,” he said. “We have given orders of culling those poultry birds.”
State Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will hold a meeting to review the bird flu situation in the state, according to ANI. Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture has summoned senior officials of the Ministry of Animal Husbandry to examine the availability of animal vaccines in the...