Bird flu alert sounded along Indo-Bangla border

An alert has been sounded along the porous Indo-Bangla international border in Tripura following reports of bird flu in the neighbouring country, official sources said in Agartala on Monday.

Sylhet, Srimanagal and Habigunj districts of Bangladesh, bordering Khowai subdivision of west Tripura district and Kamalpur subdivision of Dhalai district, have recently been affected by avian influenza, the sources said.

The Border Security Force was keeping a close vigil along the 856 km-long border to prevent the entry of chicken and poultry in the border markets, the sources said.

The state government also alerted all the district administrations and was organising workshops with the employees on disease control, the sources said.

An assistant director of the animal resource department, posted at Khowai subdivision, Samarendra Das, told reporters that a coordinated effort was needed to stop the spreading of disease.