A two-member team of Union Health Ministry is leaving for Navapur, the bird flu-affected area in Maharashtra, on Tuesday to review hospital facilities to cope with possible human cases.
"The team will talk to the Rapid Response Teams of the Central government, which are already there for preparedness," offficials said, adding that they will review the hospital facilities in terms of preparedness to handle any human cases.
Complete Coverage: Bird Flu Hits India
The officials said areas hit by bird flu were on the border of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. These are also tribal areas and have a dam nearby. They said the Union government had issued instructions to administer Tamiflu to people in these areas who have handled poultry and those showing symptoms.
The medicine has to be given within 24-48 hours of appearance of symptoms. However, the drug is only 70 per cent effective and is not to be given to the general population, as it will lead to resistance.
Meanwhile, experts said close monitoring of wild birds was needed for any mortality to pinpoint the source of the bird flu virus in India. The virus may have entered through illegal poultry from countries, which have had the outbreak in birds, Dr Prakash Rao from the World Wide Fund for Nature, said.
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