Mussoorie, May 8 -- The Uttarakhand animal husbandry department said more than 16,000 horses and mules have been tested since April 4, following equine influenza scare on Kedarnath yatra. Addressing the media on Wednesday, animal hubsnadry secretary BVRC Purushottam said that under the directives of chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and animal husbandry minister Saurabh Bahuguna, the department has taken proactive steps after the virus was initially detected in Rudraprayag district. "The National Research Centre on Equines collected samples from two villages on March 26, confirming the presence of equine influenza. Since April 4, over 16,000 animals have been tested, and only those with negative results have been allowed on the yatra route. While 152 samples initially tested positive, all were confirmed negative after RT-PCR re-testing," he added. htc...