The state government has directed the rapid action teams of the Animal Husbandry Department to keep vigil in the area and immediately report if there are any unnatural poultry deaths, Chief Veterinary Officer, Faizabad, Dr Narendra Kumar told The Indian Express.

All the district officers in Faizabad and Devipatan divisions have been directed to maintain regular surveillance of all poultry imports from West Bengal.

According to experts, the smuggling of birds, including chickens, quails, partridges, starlings, can act as a “ carrier” of the bird flu virus.

Senior veterinary scientist Dr Raji Rai said after bird flu gripped certain districts of West Bengal, the big operators there started shifting their livestock to Bihar.

Since east UP shares a border with Bihar and is a big market of poultry, so they are filling the market with the smuggled birds from West Bengal, he added.

Rai said that the area has been officially declared a high-risk area for the disease.

Confirming the reports, Dr P C Diwedi, veterinary officer of Divisional Veterinary Laboratory, said the eventuality of bird flu hitting the state could not be denied if the smuggling of birds from West Bengal continues.