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Maharashtra Sends Eight Poultry-Worker Samples to NIV for Avian Flu Testing

The move signals a shift to broader human surveillance following the Navapur bird flu outbreak.

Overview

  • District health officials said Monday that nasal swabs from eight asymptomatic poultry workers in Nandurbar will go to the National Institute of Virology in Pune on Tuesday for confirmatory tests.
  • The state has ordered RT-PCR screening for everyone deployed in culling and control work, with PPE provided, a 10-bed ICU set up near the zone, and Tamiflu given as a preventive step.
  • Two veterinary staff who reported mild flu-like symptoms earlier this month were isolated, tested, and discharged on May 7 and 8 after recovery, and officials report no human deaths so far.
  • Containment teams have culled about 406,000 chickens since May 1 and destroyed millions of eggs and large stocks of feed as multiple farms in Navapur tested positive.
  • Backyard culling is lagging because families want immediate cash compensation, which farmers say is crucial to keep cooperating with control efforts and to limit further spread.