23.02.2006

Officials will begin sealing off the entire town of Navapur, ground zero for the outbreak of avian influenza.
No one will be allowed in or out of Navapur, which has a population of nearly 30,000.
A red alert has been issued in the area and nineteen nearby villages will also be sealed off. The measures come after preliminary results of blood samples show that some of people kept under observation in a Navapur hospital tested positive for avian influenza.
Altogether 151 blood or throat swab samples of persons who had shown symptoms like fever or cough had been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV). Nine people in Navapur, who reported similar symptoms after coming in contact with the poultry, have been kept in isolation.