Bird flu: 17k poultry birds to be culled in Tapi district

SURAT: With samples of poultry birds testing positive for avian influenza, the district authorities in Tapi has decided to cull around 17,000 birds as a precautionary measure to curb the spread of the disease.
Sources said that about seven chicken had died in the last few days due to some unknown reason. The samples were sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal, and it confirmed the presence of the highly infectious H5N1 influenza virus in three samples collected from farms at Uchhal.
The animal husbandry department of Tapi district had gone to collect the sample of the dead birds.
Uchchhal taluka is adjoining Navapur in Maharashtra's Nandurbar district from where bird flu cases have been reported, said district officials.
“We had sent three samples to Bhopal for testing and that three out of the two samples have tested positive of bird flu. We will be culling about 17,000 chicken at the poultry farm in Uchhal,” said RJ Halani, district collector of Tapi.
“I have issued a notification banning the sale of chicken and eggs in the one kilometre radius of the farm in Uchhal,” added Halani.
A week ago, the Tapi district administration had banned entry and exit of poultry products from its border following confirmation of H5N8 (a strain of avian influenza) in Navapur.
Areas falling within 1 to 10 km radius from the affected farms in Navapur were declared a surveillance zone.
Culling involves the mass slaughter of domestic poultry birds, such as chickens and ducks, to contain the spread of bird flu. During the culling process, domestic birds in an infected area are slaughtered and their remains buried.
Bird flu is a highly infectious and severe respiratory disease in birds caused by the influenza virus.