Flu scare: Patient not being treated as suspect, says official

A Chandigarh Forest and Wildlife Department official, who took part in the culling of geese at Sukhna Lake here after a dead duck had tested positive for avian influenza recently, is not being treated as a suspected case of the bird flu, a senior health official said today.
The middle-aged official who has been admitted to Panchkula's General Hospital in Sector 6 two days back after he complained of headache, was not being treated as a suspect, Dr Kamla Singh, Additional Director General, Health Services, Haryana, said.
"The patient even did not have fever, but he was kept in the isolation ward just as a precautionary measure," she said.

Singh said the Haryana Health Department was alert and was taking every precaution that included keeping surveillance in poultry farms at Barwala in Panchkula district, which are located about 15 km from the Sukhna Lake, where a dead duck had tested positive for avian influenza recently prompting authorities to go for culling of the remaining geese.
Chandigarh administration was conducting door-to-door survey in the localities close to the lake as a precautionary measure, officials said.
The residents were examined for symptoms of bird flu and were apprised of steps to be taken as a precautionary measure.
A team from National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory (HSADL), Bhopal, was also expected to arrive here soon.