Bird flu: culling of chicken continues in Paradip

Culling of chicken continued in the port town of Paradip following detection of bird flu there on Sunday, a veterinary officer said
A team of experts from the Centre also visited the areas affected by the H5N1 avian flu.
Over 850 chickens and ducks have so far been culled after the flue was detected on Sunday, Jagatsinghpur Chief District Veterinary Officer Ramesh Chandra Behera said.
A decision has been taken to cull 2000 chickens in Paradip and the culling operation is likely to take two more days to complete, he said.
A large number of eggs were also destroyed as part of the efforts to prevent spread of the disease to other areas.

A four-member team from the Union Health Ministry visited the affected port town to take stock of the situation.

The team members discussed with district officials on the action taken, Behera said.
As a precautionary measure, all poultry firms and outlets have been shut in and around Paradip and sale of chicken and eggs was banned.
Steps have also been taken to prevent transportation of poultry products out of the district, said Jagatsinghpur in-charge Collector Sachidananda Sahu said.
Several hotels in the town have also been raided as part of the drive to check sale and stock of poultry.
Ten rapid response teams were formed and sent to the affected area by the administration.

The teams comprising 40 members have been constituted to sanitize the area, Behera said.
While two blood samples of chicken have so far tested positive for H5N1, 364 other samples have been sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases for examination, he said.