Samples taken from two crows found positive for bird flu; Dwarka park closed: DDA

Samples taken from two crows found dead recently at a DDA park in Delhi's Dwarka have tested positive for avian influenza following which it has been closed for public, officials said.

The park is located in Dwarka Sector 9. Sanjay Lake and Hastsal Park are already closed since Saturday.

"Samples taken from two crows found dead recently at Park no 3 in Dwarka Sector 9 have tested positive for bird flu infection. The park has been closed," a senior DDA official said.

Eight samples taken from birds found dead in various parks in the last few days were sent to a Bhopal-based laboratory, which has confirmed bird flu in Delhi, government officials said earlier in the day.

Death of 17 more ducks at Delhi's Sanjay Lake was reported on Sunday, following which the closed recreational park has been declared an "alert zone" by authorities amid a bird flu scare in the city, officials had said.

Also, a total of 91 crows have been found dead at 14 DDA parks in last few days, they had said.

The Delhi Development Authority owns about 800 parks, other big parks being the Coronation Park in Burari, Japanese Park in Rohini and various biodiversity parks.

The 14 parks where death of crows have been reported, include, Golden Jubilee Park, District Park, Vijay Mandal at Begumpur and Central Nursery, Sector 5 at Dwarka, the official had said on Sunday.