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Bihar, which is currently witnessing an outbreak of bird flu, does not yet have a testing facility to confirm it. According to officials, with the state experiencing frequent outbreaks, the need for such a laboratory now is greater than ever before.
The government has been planning for nearly 5-6 years to set up a testing lab facility in Bihar for confirmation of bird flu, an official of the state animal and fisheries resources department told Down To Earth (DTE).
The department did sanction Rs 14.92 crore in financial year 2023-24 for setting up such a lab. It has also consulted different agencies in this regard. A few months ago, a National Dairy Development Board team visited Patna in this connection.
But the state still awaits the laboratory.
“Bird flu cases are reported every year in Bihar. The government agencies have to send samples collected from suspected sites where chickens or other birds are found dead either to Kolkata in West Bengal or to Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh for confirmation of bird flu,” an official of health department told DTE.
Most of the samples from Bihar have been sent to Bhopal-based National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) and Kolkata-based Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL) for confirmation of bird flu.
“It usually takes over one week for confirmation of bird flu. First, samples have to be sent there. This itself takes two to three days. After that, the lab personnel conduct tests and finally confirm the test result. All this takes a week. It is a sheer wastage of time. If a testing lab is set up in the state, it will hardly take 24 hours for confirmation of bird flu,” the official added.
According to official sources, the state government sent a proposal to the Centre for setting up such a lab facility nearly four years ago. Since Bihar did not get central government approval for the same, the state government decided to set up a lab on its own.