The Bhaktapur Bird Flu Control Section has asked locals to bury dead pigeons and crows well, without bothering to conduct avian influenza tests on the samples.
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| File photo of a recent mass bird die-off in Nepal. |
Who will be responsible if they catch ‘bird flu’ after burying the birds? This is the question local people like Tulasha Shrestha are asking.
Shrestha says the section’s instruction to locals — to bury the birds on their own — has terrified the locals further. According to Shrestha, a crow dropped dead in front of her house yesterday evening. She says pigeons have died in her neighbour Indrabhakta Rajlabat’s house.
Locals fear that bird flu will make inroads into Bhaktapur, again.
“When we contacted the District Livestock Office today, officials there asked us to bury the dead birds safely. This has scared us,” Shrestha says.
No one is ready to bury the birds fearing bird flu, according to the Bhaktapur local.
“If the person burying the birds catches bird flu, who will take responsibility?” asks Indra Bhakta Rajlabat, another local.
Khagendraraj Bhatta, chief at the livestock office, says his office has urged locals to bury the dead birds on their own as the office does not need to conduct bird flu tests in the crisis-hit zone.
According to Bhatta, there’s no need to panic as other factors may have killed the birds.
The government had declared Bhaktapur a bird flu crisis-hit zone on August 15. A stamping out operation meant to destroy birds and bird-related materials is on in the district, with 7,22,814 fowls and 2,75,997 chicks from 498 farms culled so far.
The operation has also destroyed 12,89,299 eggs and 50,806 kg chicken feed. - The Himalayan Times.
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