Punjab Animal Husbandry Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa disclosed that Punjab is almost safe from Bird Flu and that 99.5% of the poultry farms in the state were free from bird flu, out of the total samples tested so far at Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Jalandhar.
He said that only 0.5% of the farms have been found to be infected with the avian influenza. He expressed hope that that with the hardworking efforts of the state government and poultry farmers, the state would be soon fully safe from bird flu.
Giving information, Vijay Kumar Janjua, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Dairy Development, Punjab, said that so far 8,022 samples have been tested at Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Jalandhar.
He also informed that there are about 641 egg laying poultry farms and about 2,851 meat production farms in the state and so far RDDL, Jalandhar has collected and tested samples from around 750 farms.
Additional Chief Secretary Janjua also appealed to the general public to eat fully cooked meat and eggs as experts have advised that it is safe to eat, if meat and eggs are cooked at 70 degree Celsius for minimum for 20 minutes. At the same time he said that the Punjab government would extend full support to the poultry farmers for conducting the tests of their poultry farms and these tests would be done completely free of cost.
