India experienced 41 outbreaks of bird flu in 10 states in 2025: Centre
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Prof. S.P. Singh Baghel, confirmed infections caused by the bird flu virus in non-avian species like tiger, lion, leopard, and domestic cats.
This indicates a broader host range than typically expected and increases the risk of spillover events to humans.
However, compared to the last five years, 2025 has recorded fewer outbreaks from the H9N1 virus.
'Till July 24, 41 cases have been recorded this year, compared to 49 in 2024. The highest number of cases in the last five years was in 2021, with 118 reported incidents,' Baghel said.
'The lowest was in 2023, with 15 reported incidents,' he added.
The Minister revealed that bird flu outbreaks in domestic poultry have been reported from Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha.
To address the growing threat, Baghel noted that the government has undertaken multiple initiatives aimed at prevention, surveillance, and rapid response.
The government formulated the National Action Plan for Prevention, Control, and Containment of Avian Influenza (Revised 2021) to provide comprehensive guidelines for preparedness, identification, and notification of affected areas, culling operations, and implementation of biosecurity measures, among others.
Advisories have been issued to all States/UTs to enhance preparedness ahead of the winter migratory bird season, including strengthening surveillance in high-risk areas in coordination with wildlife and health authorities.
A Poultry Disease Action Plan, 2024, has also been developed to build a resilient and disease-free poultry sector.
Further, the States/UTs are financially supported on a sharing basis for compensating affected poultry owners for the culling of birds.
Financial support is also provided for the establishment and strengthening of laboratories, research and innovation, capacity building, and training/awareness on topics like good animal husbandry practices, biosecurity/sanitary measures, timely reporting of unusual mortality events, etc.
A National Joint Outbreak Response Team (NJORT) comprising representatives from the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, National Centre for Disease Control, Indian Council of Medical Research, and Indian Council of Agriculture Research has been constituted to investigate outbreaks and coordinate field investigations and support for control and containment operations.
The use of Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H9N2) vaccine has also been permitted using an indigenous seed strain, adding a tool to support disease prevention in the country, the Minister said.
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