Bird flu: 7,000 fowls culled in Bhubaneswar

Pakistan Telegraph (IANS) Sunday 5th February, 2012

About 7,000 fowls were culled Sunday in Odisha capital Bhubaneswar after a bird flu case was detected in a government-run institution, an official said.

"The culling operation was conducted by about 40 experts and veterinary personnel till late afternoon," Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Director Benudhar Dash told IANS.

Culling is likely to continued for three-four days, he added saying that the government planned to cull about 40,000 birds.

The state authorities had recently sent three poultry samples from the city's government-run Central Poultry Development Organisation (CPDO) to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Madhya Pradesh' capital Bhopal after several chickens died.

The government decided to cull the birds after one of these samples tested positive for the deadly H5N1 virus, Dash said. The CPDO has nearly 30,000 poultry birds.

While all these birds will be culled, the government has also planned to cull about 10,000 fowls present within three km area of the CPDO, he said.

The government has also restricted the movement of poultry and related products from the area to prevent the spread of infection after it received the lab report Friday.

The state had culled thousands of poultry birds early this month after bird flu cases were detected in Khordha, Mayurbhanj and Angul districts.