Nagpur: Three tigers and a leopard, which died of avian influenza in a rescue center in Nagpur, Maharashtra, could have been infected with the virus after they ate chicken, said state Forest Minister Ganesh Naik. Naik, while talking to reporters on Thursday, said that it is still unclear what led to the infection in the first place as the reports of scientific lab tests are awaited. He said there is more investigation to be made to ascertain where exactly the virus originated from.
The minister went on to say that authorities have also been instructed to check all the food prior to serving it to the animals in the zoos and the rescue centers. Further, the premise where the mishap took place has been closed to business for sometime due to precautionary measures.
The affected tigers and leopards have been shifted to Gorewada Rescue Centre in Nagpur from Chandrapur due to instances of human-wildlife conflict. These deaths were reported towards the end of last month at the center, and samples of the dead animals were taken to the laboratory for test in Bhopal. A day later, on 2 January, the results of the test positively indicated the presence of the virus referred to as the avian influenza H5N1 virus, according to Gorewada project divisional manager Shatanik Bhagwat.
After the confirmation, the Central Government released an advisory for all the zoos stating that all necessary precautions must be taken to avoid any more infections. Bhagwat said, there is rigorous disinfection going on at the place at the moment, following the guidelines from the central and the state government.
Regarding averting infection through chicken, Naik clarified that there is as yet no confirmation despite preliminary accounts from certain quarters. The stacks of political implementation are still waiting for the authorities’ scientific results. This has brought issues to do with animal security in various rescue centers and what should be done in order to ensure that such mishaps occur in the future.
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