Monday, January 5, 2009

India: Bird flu spreads to Hills, culling begins

5 Jan 2009, 0211 hrs IST, TNN

DARJEELING: A day after culling operations began at Matigara near Siliguri, bird flu spread to the Hills, with officials confirming an outbreak

of the dreaded poultry disease at Pubung, about 30 km from Darjeeling. Culling operations began on Sunday.

Sale and farming of chickens has been banned within a 10-km radius of Pubung panchayat in Takdah block. However, Darjeeling town itself is not under the purview of the ban.

The Bhopal-based High Security Animal Disease Laboratory confirmed the disease on January 2, but the news reached the district late and all through Saturday the administration got the teams together for Sunday's operations.

According to Darjeeling DM Surendra Gupta, over 700 chickens will be culled in two days.

The samples were sent to Bhopal after 35-40 chickens died mysteriously over the past week. "The high number of deaths prompted us to send the samples to Bhopal," said Gupta.

The test on the dead chickens confirmed the H5N1 virus and accordingly the state government was informed. The government issued a notification and instructed the district administration to carry out culling operations.

hat-tip Avian Flu Diary

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