Agartala, Apr 06: The Tripura government today confirmed the presence of bird flu in the state and asked the people not to consume poultry and its products.

The Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL) in Bhopal has confirmed the presence of H5N1 virus in blood samples of chickens.

The blood samples were sent on April one following sudden death of thousands of birds, including ducks, in the Bangladesh-bordering villages of Kamalpur division in north Tripura.

Official sources here said the ADDL had sought for more samples for further investigation and second consignment of the samples have already been dispatched.

The villagers had reportedly been noticing abnormal behaviour among the birds, both domestic and wild. Nine dogs and three jackals, which had consumed the birds, were also found dead, the villagers said.

More than 3,000 chickens and other birds have died in the area, sources said adding that animals which ahd consumed the caracasses have also died.

However, ARD Director A.Barman said that the death might be due to Ranikhet viral disease, also known as Newcastle disease and was highly infectious and fatal.

Earlier, the detection of the H5N1 virus in chickens at the small poultry farms in Moulabibazar district of Bangladesh had prompted the government to take measures to stop the movement of poultry products between two countries.

Alarmed over the spread of bird flu from East Asian countries and considering the vulnerability of the region, authorities in Northeastern states have strengthened preventive measures to check the possible spread of the dreaded disease.

UNI