Fears of bird flu spreading beyond the Delhi+ zoo grew on Thursday, with the government confirming that at least 10 birds were found dead in the city over the past 48 hours. These included five at the deer park in south Delhi’s Hauz Khas, which has been closed to visitors.

Two more birds also died at the zoo+ , which has been shut since Tuesday following confirmation of three H5N1, or avian flu, deaths. Samples of six-seven other birds that died earlier have been sent for testing.

Keeping the rumours of bird flu in mind, Delhi government has canceled the holidays of employees of Animal Husbandry Department.

The government, on Friday, will send a team to inspect chickens in the Ghazipur mandi to see whether they are also affected by the disease.

The government has deployed six rapid response teams to monitor cases of bird flu, said Development Minister Gopal Rai Thursday.

Gopal Rai inspects DEER Park for Bird Flu

“We have deployed the six teams at the Okhla bird sanctuary, Hauz Khas, Ghazipur chicken mandi, Yamuna biodiversity park, Najafgarh nullah and the zoo. Responses on our helpline revealed that three birds have died in the Deer Park lake, two in Sundar Nagar and two more in the zoo, besides the 10 reported deaths in the zoo till Wednesday evening. The teams have collected 50 samples, of them 20 from the zoo and nine from Ghazipur chicken mandi, and sent them to Jalandhar for testing. We will get the reports Saturday, on the basis of which we will be able to conduct a detailed analysis. We are shutting down the Hauz Khas lake till we get the test results,” said Rai.

“We have discussed measures needed to tackle bird flu, in the event of an outbreak, with the health department. The department assured us that there is adequate stock of Tamiflu, the antivirus needed to treat persons infected with the flu… we will also inspect chicken mandis and the Hauz Khas lake Friday. The leave of all doctors and staffers with the animal husbandry department has been cancelled…,” said the minister.

Initial symptoms of bird flu in humans include high fever, sore throat, abdominal pain, chest pain and diarrhoea. But patients can develop severe symptoms such as respiratory distress and pneumonia, leading to death. Rai said many migratory birds come to Delhi from neighbouring states. “A portion of the Asola Bhatti wildlife sanctuary, for example, falls under Haryana . We are trying to involve officials from that state to intensify the identification of bird deaths,” he added.