Maharashtra has reported deaths of 96 more birds, most of them poultry birds, amid the avian influenza scare, the state government said on Monday. Their samples are being sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal and Disease Investigation Section, Pune, for testing to ascertain the cause of the death of these birds on Sunday, it said.

According to an official statement, 77 of these were poultry birds. The government said 15 crows and four otherbirds, including herons and parrots, also died on Sunday.