After 4 bird flu deaths, Gorakhpur and Kanpur zoos step up monitoring and test staff

Indian Express

18-05-2025

After a report from a Bhopal-based laboratory confirmed the presence of a bird flu strain in four animals that died at the Gorakhpur and Kanpur zoos in Uttar Pradesh, the zoo authorities have started testing their staff as a precaution. Each zoo employs over 100 staff members.
Samples of animals housed in the two zoos are also being sent for testing to the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, and the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly. Special attention is being given to animals showing abnormal behaviour, such as loss of appetite, and their samples are being collected for analysis. Regular sanitisation is being carried out at both zoos and zoo staff have been instructed to strictly adhere to all precautionary measures.
This month, a tigress, a wolf and a leopard died at the Gorakhpur zoo and the tigress and the leopard tested positive for bird flu. At the Kanpur zoo, samples of a tigress and a peacock found dead last week were sent to the laboratory for examination and both tested positive.
Since the report was received, regular sanitisation has been carried out at the Gorakhpur zoo, officially known as Shaheed Ashfaqullah Khan Zoological Park, and the Kanpur Zoological Park.
Shraddha Yadav, director of the Kanpur zoo, stated, 'Testing of the entire zoo staff is underway.'
A team led by the chief medical officer of Kanpur has arrived to conduct the tests. The Kanpur zoo employs around 106 staff members. Yadav also mentioned that random samples from animals housed in the zoo were being sent for examination.
Vikas Yadav, director of the Gorakhpur zoo, said that all 105 staff members were examined and all were found negative. He added that a few samples of animals from the zoo had been sent for testing.
The poultry farms in Kanpur and Gorakhpur are also being sanitised and samples are being sent for examination.
Directions have also been issued to restrict the entry of outsiders to all poultry farms in the districts. The workers of poultry farms were advised to enter the farms only after getting properly sanitised besides adopting other measures.
Last week, after the tigress that died recently at the Gorakhpur zoo tested positive for a strain of bird flu, the government took several precautionary measures, including a week-long closure of three zoological parks and the Lion Safari in Etawah for visitors, along with continuous surveillance of animals housed in these facilities.
Aditi Sharma, director of the Lucknow zoo, said that since no animals had died at the zoo recently, no samples had been sent for testing. She added that if any animals showed abnormal behaviour, appropriate action would be taken.
Anil Patel, director of the Lion Safari in Etawah, said the animals were being monitored closely, but none had shown any abnormal signs thus far. 'No samples have been sent for testing from here,' he added.