As in compliance with an order from the Centre, the heath officials in Sikkim has already culled over 10,160 chickens at the Bird Flu affected area of Rabangla till Wednesday’s evening while more are in the process of being culled.

While giving this information to the media people, the collector of South district (Namchi), Mr D Anandan, said: “Nine rapid response teams have been formed to take care and action against Bird Flu in Rabangla. A ban on the sale of poultry was imposed in South Sikkim on 15 January even before the confirmation of Avian Flu from the high security animal disease laboratory, Bhopal. The movement of vehicles from the infected zone has been restricted. Areas within a 3 km radius of the Bird Flu epicentre have been declared an affected zone.”

A team from New Delhi has arrived in the state to supervise this exercise. The Central team has also brought equipment and Tami Flu tablets.

As a precautionary measure, the government has also decided to cull domesticated birds like pigeons, swans and ducks etc. in the affected zone. The health authorities have also sealed the affected area and no vehicle is being allowed to enter or leave it in order to contain the spread of avian influenza.

A mass awareness campaign in the state has already been started by the government. A government official said, “We are distributing pamphlets and making announcements through radio and television channels.”

Apart from providing medicines, the health workers in the state are provided protective equipment and masks.

As per the WHO, the H5N1 bird flu has infected more than 390 people in 15 countries and killed at least 247 of them since the virus resurfaced in Asia in 2003.

India has culled millions of chickens and ducks to contain the virus since the first outbreak in 2006. However, the country has not witnessed a single human case of bird flu so far.