HYDERABAD: With migratory birds making their annual sojourn to various water bodies located in and around the twin cities, the wildlife authorities in association with the Animal Husbandry Department have begun screening them for signs of avian influenza.

There are several water bodies around the twin cities and a few more in Warangal district that are flocked by migratory birds till March every year. Osmansagar, Nizamsagar, Singur, Manjeera, Himayatsagar on the city outskirts are hot spots for these birds.

Officials indicate that this year, too, a sizeable number of birds of various species have come in large numbers to the water bodies. Hence, it becomes imperative to screen these birds for viral infections, if any.

"Over 50 wildlife personnel have been trained to collect sera and faecal samples so that we can screen these in our facilities or send them to better facilities depending on the gravity of the situation," says Joint Director of the Veterinary Biological Research Institute M. Sudarshan Rao.

In all, officials have identified 22 major water bodies in the State. The wildlife authorities have been given adequate infrastructure and training to collect samples at random and look out for any sudden deaths.

Worrying trend

"If there is a flock of migratory birds and 70 per cent of the birds die within 48 hours, definitely there is something wrong. We have asked the wildlife authorities to take our personnel along with them to collect samples," says Assistant Director (Poultry), Animal Husbandry Department, H.S. Rajendra Kumar.

However, officials point out that there has been no indication of any viral outbreak.

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