shukla bazar amethi the bird flu outbreak in amethi has not spread to humans so far concluded the central rapid response team of the health ministry here on tuesday the avian flu virus is limited to birds and has not affected any humans said dr desh deepak who spoke on behalf of the three member team headed by additional director dr c s agarwal the team reached amethi within 24 hours of the up government declaring avian flu alert on saturday since avian flu is a new problem the team came down to roll out the contingency plan said another team member dr shaukat kamaal on monday night the team had learnt that some children had taken ill soon after culling began in the district though local health officials dismissed any such news and said the children were not cases of even suspected avian flu the health team went in for a physical verification outside one such home seema begum mother of the two children believed to be unwell said my sons are in school for exam they are fine mohammad arif parent of another child said there appears to be some confusion later talking to the press central team members admitted that surveillance of the homes was a challenge considering low literacy levels and visible resentment over loss of poultry in the affected hamlets constraint of entering their homes and holding random checks was also there as most affected families were muslim the health workers cannot afford to draw flak confided a team member nodal officer for avian flu control dr g a khan admitted the problem and held interpersonal communication sessions in local dialect to ease the pressure meanwhile the surveillance session also began in the 10 kilometer radius of the core affected area including sari ka purva naya purva purey paha purey soochit purey kaushal purey gosain and chandgarh villages as many as 15 teams have been formed to create awareness about the warning signs of avian flu in the population the health team also gave a list of recommendations to the district administration today after holding random inspection of two hamlets in the core area at the state headquarters up government officials stressed there was no bird flu panic all necessary precautions have been taken in amethi from where bird flu outbreak was reported said dr rudra pratap director animal husbandary up in another development dudhwa national park in lakhimpurkheri has been put on high alert following influenza outbreak in amethi even though no case of avian influenza or bird flu has been reported in terai district of kheri or in dudhwa tiger reserve so far we are taking no chance as migratory birds begin to arrive said deputy field director vinod krishna singh