New Delhi, July 30 -- India is battling a significant wave of avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, with 41 outbreaks confirmed in poultry across 10 states this year, the government said in Parliament on Wednesday, adding that it is vigorously implementing a national action plan to combat the spread.

As of July 24, the affected states included Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha, Union minister of state for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying S.P. Singh Baghel said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

The bird flu outbreaks of this year are fewer than the 118 recorded in 2021, but the continued presence of the highly cont...