Bird flu confirmed in five more poultry farms of Bhaktapur

BHAKTAPUR, AUG 05 - Even as the government mulls extending the ban on poultry product s after a rapid increase in the cases of bird flu , the authorities on Monday confirmed the H5N1 virus in five more poultry farms in Bhaktapur district.
With this, the number of poultry farm confirmed to have been infected with bird-flu has risen to 19 in Bhaktapur district.
According to District Veterinary Office, the avian influenza virus was confirmed in the poultry farms of Bir Bahadur Bhusal in Balkot, Kiran Suwal in Jhaukhel, Narayan Hari Khatri in Sallaghari and Ram Lama in Sudal.
Earlier, 15,000 chickens were culled after the H5N1 virus was confirmed in Narayan Hari's poultry farm in Nangkhel.
According to Khagendra Bhatta, Chief of District Veterinary Office, Bhaktapur, there are around 25,000 chickens in Kiran Suwal's farm only.
The authorities are preparing to cull the infected chicken from the farms today itself.
Since the first outbreak in a poultry farm in Matatirtha and Chabahil on July 16, the virus has claimed over 1,00,000 chicken s in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur districts.
The Capital has witnessed the 32nd bird flu outbreak in the past three weeks.
Following the conformation of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in many poultry farms in Bhaktapur district, the government has imposed ban on the poultry product s in all the three districts of the Valley from Thursday.

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