Arambagh Hatcheries reports 20% sales hit

The demand for chicken in and around Kolkata dropped by 20 per cent over the last couple of days following detection of bird flu in Bisbhum and South Dinajpur districts of West Bengal and the reaction among buyers, according to a senior official of Kolkata-based Arambagh Hatcheries, the biggest chicken and poultry products enterprise in the state.

As a precautionary measure, stringent hygiene measures had been been imposed across all the Arambagh poultries, he said.

"We are taking all precautionary measures like spraying medicated water and bleaching powder to maintain proper hygiene," he said.

A general alert was sounded across West Bengal and culling operations began in the two affected areas. About four lakh birds have been culled in the wake of a bird flu outbreak in some parts of West Bengal, said, Sharad Paward, agriculture and food minister, in Delhi on Tuesday.

About 3.50 lakh birds in Birbhum and 26,000 in South Dinajpur would be culled, said Anisur Rahaman, animal resources development minister of West Bengal.

As a precautionary measure, the state government has decided to ban sale of birds and disinfect the poultries.

The North Eastern states have sounded an alert and sealed Bangladesh borders to prevent entry of birds into the region.

All the NE states sharing borders either with Bangladesh or with West Bengal have banned entry of birds across borders following instruction from the central government.

Teams of the West Bengal government visited 105 villages under Rampurhat Blocks I and II in state's Birbhum district as culling of chicken affected by the deadly bird flu virus began today. The birds would then be killed, pits dug and the carcasses buried.

The international border with Bangladesh was sealed too. The steps were taken after reports from High Security Disease Laboratory (HSDL) in Bhopal and National Institute of Virology in Pune confirmed presence of the H5N1 virus in chickens' samples sent from West Bengal. Around 35,000 to 40,000 chicken have died in Birbhum district alone.

AT Balurghat in South Dinajpur, the other district affected by bird flu, culling will take place at the state-run poultry farm in the district.

The International border with Bangladesh has been sealed as a precautionary measure, official sources said.

Movement of chicken to Jharkhand's Pakur district from the adjoining Birbhum district of West Bengal was banned too following bird flu.

Pakur deputy commissioner Rajesh Kumar Sharma said three teams visited Rahaspur, Ilami, Manikrampur, Nawada, Sangrampur, Randanga, Anjana and other places to take stock of the situation. The teams included doctors and support staff. There was no report of bird flu anywhere in Jharkhand.