India to cull poultry after outbreak of deadly avian influenza

India has reportedly started a large-scale culling of poultry to contain the outbreak of bird flu across its various states.

The outbreak of avian influenza has already killed scores of migratory birds, ducks, crows and chickens in the country.

According to reports, the H5N1 and H5N8 strains of bird flu have been identified in the country, of which H5N8 is said to be an avian influenza subtype among poultry and wild birds.

Local and state authorities have suspended the sale and export of poultry, as well as implemented wide testing measures to contain the virus.

The southern Indian state of Kerala, which reported the deaths of 12,000 ducks in the aftermath of the bird flu outbreak, has decided to cull around 35,000 poultry.

The authorities ordered the slaughter within a 1km radius of the infection epicentre.

The Haryana state official said that around 150,000 chickens died in various poultry farms in Barwala district. Neighbouring state Punjab also reported similar deaths.

Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh witnessed hundreds of crow deaths caused by H5N1 and H5N8 over past weeks, while the northern state of Himachal Pradesh reported the death of a large number of migratory birds.

According to India’s Union Health Ministry, no cases of bird flu have so far been detected in humans.

Between 2006 and 2015, the department of animal husbandry reported 25 episodes of H5N1 bird flu in poultry in 15 states across the country.

Last month, Hong Kong suspended the imports of poultry meat and products, including poultry eggs from certain areas in Korea and the UK due to H5N8 avian influenza.

Hong Kong previously suspended imports of poultry meat and products from Japan’s Miyazaki Prefecture, as well as certain areas in the UK, Russia, and the Netherlands in the wake of the bird flu outbreak.