New Delhi: The Delhi Health Department on Wednesday issued an advisory in view of bird flu cases in the city, asking people not to panic and follow a set of dos and don'ts, including not consuming half-cooked chicken, half-boiled or half-fried eggs.

Several ducks at Sanjay Lake and a large number of crows across various city parks have been found dead in the last one week.

The revenue department has deployed teams of volunteers at the city's borders to prevent unauthorized entry of livestock and canned and processed chicken from outside.

The advisory issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) of Delhi on Wednesday stated, "H5N8 is highly pathogenic in birds but the pathogenicity in humans, as well as the likelihood of human infection with avian influenza (AH5N8) virus, is low."

The health department, while issuing the dos and don'ts, asked people to observe precaution and not panic.

"Avoid contact and prevent exposure from sick-looking sluggish chicken. Avoid direct contact with bird secretions and droppings," the advisory states, adding that bowls used for feeding birds, and their cages should be washed properly with soap or detergent.

All slaughter waste must be disposed of properly, the DGHS authorities said.

The advisory also cautioned people to not touch dead birds with naked hands. If any bird is found dead, control room should be informed at phone number 23890318.

"Eat only completely cooked eggs and poultry products cooked at 70 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. Do not consume half-cooked chicken or bird or half-boiled and half-fried eggs," the advisory said.

Do not keep raw poultry meat near cooked meat. Wash hands frequently at the time of handling raw poultry products. Take due care of personal hygiene and maintain cleanliness in surroundings, it cautioned.

Reports of over 50 bird deaths were received on a helpline of the Delhi government's animal husbandry unit, and 18 samples from different parts of the city were sent for avian flu testing on Tuesday, officials had said.

Testing of samples of crows and ducks had confirmed bird flu cases in the national capital on Monday, prompting the city government to impose a ban on the sale of processed and packaged chicken brought from outside the city.

The Ghazipur poultry market has also closed by authorities.

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New Delhi: The countdown has begun for the counting of votes for the Assembly elections in five states that have captured the attention of people across the country.

The counting of votes for the Assembly constituencies of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry will begin simultaneously at 8 am, and the fate of candidates in a total of 824 constituencies will be decided shortly.

The counting of postal ballots will take place first, followed by the counting of EVM votes in several rounds.

  • Bhupen Borah, who recently left Congress and joined the BJP, is leading in Assam’s Bihpuria constituency

  • Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma is leading in Jalukabari constituency

  • BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari is leading in West Bengal’s Nandigram constituencyFive-state elections: Postal vote counting begins

  • TMC, BJP lead in one seat each in West Bengal

  • In Tamil Nadu, DMK leads in 3 constituencies, while TVK leads in 1

  • UDF leads in 5 seats in Kerala, BJP in 1, LDF in 1

  • BJP leads in 2 seats, AIUDF in 1 in Assam

  • AINRC leads in 1 constituency in Puducherry

  • TMC leads in 5 seats in West Bengal; Mamata Banerjee’s party maintains initial lead

  • Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin leads in Kolathur

  • BJP takes early lead in Assam

  • Congress-led UDF leads in Kerala

  • In Tamil Nadu, TVK chief Vijay leads in the Perambur constituency, lags in Tiruchirappalli South

  • BJP leads in 10 seats in Assam

  • LDF candidate V.P.P. Mustafa leads in the Thrikkaripur Assembly constituency

  • Out of 294 seats in West Bengal, BJP is leading in 14 seats, TMC in 12 seats, Congress in 2 seats

  • Out of 234 seats in Tamil Nadu, DMK is leading in 15 seats, AIADMK is leading in 5 seats, TVK is leading in 2 seats

  • Out of 126 seats in Assam, BJP is leading in 31 seats, Congress in 4 seats, AIUDF in 2 seats.

  • Out of 30 seats in Puducherry, NRC+ is leading in 3 seats, Congress in 2 seats, TVK in 1 seat.

  • Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury suffers a setback in theBerhampore constituency in West Bengal.