Avian flu spreading to Lakhimpur, Sivasagar

The government is considering a hike compensation for the culled poultry even as two more districts in Assam were suspected to have been affected by the avian flu. The authorities have already rushed teams to Sibsagar and North Lakhimpur district.

Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, Union Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Secretary N Gokulram said blood samples of the birds from the two districts were sent for tests to laboratories in Pune and Bhopal.

Sibsagar and North Lakhimpur districts, however, were fresh areas where the avian influenza was suspected to have dispersed. He said action would be taken in the two districts, after receiving reports from the Bhopal-based High Security Disease Diagnostic Laboratory and the National Institute of Virology, Pune.

He further said there is no report avian flu virus infection to human body in the state so far.