ISLAMABAD, Feb 6: The federal agriculture ministry has asked provinces to take precautions and increase surveillance after two cases of bird flu were found in two small flocks of chickens and peacocks in Rawalpindi and Mansehra district of the NWFP.

“Commercial poultry farms should make sure that their birds are properly vaccinated,” warns a statement issued by the federal ministry of food, agriculture and livestock (Minfal) here on Tuesday.

The ministry also warned the people keeping birds in their backyards to be vigilant and report any unusual morality to local veterinarian.

“People keeping pet birds should not ignore the warning as they have also been advised to vaccinate their birds against avian influenza (H5N1) as soon as possible.

“We are not keeping anything secret from the people and have issued timely advice. We have found no positive signs of the virus in commercial forms so far, but only flocks kept in homes,” the federal government’s official spokesman for bird flu, Dr Mohammad Afzal, told Dawn.

The northern winter has brought with it a resurgence of avian influenza as quarantine workers slaughtered hundreds of thousands of poultry after fresh outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 strain in Asia in recent weeks.

Now, the virus has hit Pakistan again and it is expected that many such positive cases may appear in various parts of the country in the coming days, an official of the Ministry of Health told Dawn.

Dr Afzal said on Friday, the National Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza, Islamabad, received two positive samples of H5N1. The first sample was received from a house in Rawalpindi’s Sadar area. The family had 40 birds in the backyard, out of which 18 died. The remaining 22 birds were culled and the affected area was disinfected.

The second sample was received from a pet bird keeper from Mansehra, NWFP, where a few peacocks died. The premises are under quarantine. Both the cases have been reported to the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) known as the World Organisation for Animal Health.

The OIE manages the world animal health information system, based on the commitment of member countries to notify to the OIE of the main animal diseases.

Over the last three years, Pakistan has suffered over Rs25billion losses, according to figures released by the Pakistan Poultry Association from time to time.