Via The Hindu, a report from Bangalore: Bird flu nodal centre notified. Excerpt:
The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has identified the State-run Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) as a nodal centre for isolation and treatment of bird flu cases, if detected.
On Thursday, an NCDC team, which is in Bangalore to oversee the State Health Department’s surveillance measures in the vicinity of the Central Poultry Development Organisation (CPDO), visited RGICD along with the State Joint Director (Communicable Diseases) A.B. Chowdhury and other officials.
Dr. Chowdhury told The Hindu RGICD had been identified as the nodal centre for isolation and treatment of bird flu cases. “We will soon issue a notification in this regard,” he said.
RGICD Director Shashidhar Buggi, pointing out that no human case of bird flu had been detected so far, said the hospital was prepared to handle any emergency.
CULLING OVER
Meanwhile, following the culling of all birds (more than 33,000, including turkeys, chickens, emus and an ostrich) at the CPDO, where the Union government has declared an outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1), the cleaning of the sheds and pens were in progress, a Department of Animal Husbandry communiqué said.
Surveillance work in the 10-km radius of surveillance zone is on and 74 serum samples and 74 cloacal samples have been collected and submitted to the laboratory for investigations, the release said.
