While rumours have already dropped the poultry business by 30-40 per cent, bird flu or avian influenza has been officially confirmed across the length and breadth of the state, including Mumbai and Thane, which is unlike the first outbreak in 2006 when it was confined only to the Navapur precinct of Nandurbar district.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's office confirmed that the H5N1 virus was found in farm chickens, crows and other birds in certain places and test reports of samples collected from many rural and urban areas were expected soon.

Reports have confirmed that two crows in Mumbai, three pond egrets and one parrot in Thane died of avian influenza. Earlier on Sunday, as many as 11 crows were found dead in Chembur.