India kills 20,000 birds to limit spread of avian flu

Nearly 20,000 poultry birds have been killed in India to limit the spread of bird flu, which was identified at a farm belonging to the Central Poultry Development Organisation (CPDO), a central government agency, in Bhubaneswar city, Odisha, India.

The farm has about 29,000 birds, including some rare varieties that are used for breeding.

About 48,000 birds are expected to be culled over the next few days, including 9,000 fowls at Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) and 9,000 birds in Salia Sahi, as these areas fall within the alert zone.

The state government has appointed ten rapid response teams to handle the outbreak; five teams will be responsible for creating awareness amongst people, while the other five will be responsible for the killing of birds.

Fisheries and animal resources development department nodal officer Balaram Sahu said that 11,955 chicks and 8,045 adult birds have been culled so far. ‘This will continue till all poultry birds within 3km of the epicentre are killed,’ he added.

In addition, 21 wards within the city have been declared as alert zones. Outlets that sell chicken and poultry products within these zones have been asked to shut down until further notice and the government has also imposed a ban on the movement of poultry from these wards to other areas.

According to the department, a huge pit has been dug outside the city to bury the culled birds and extensive plans have been outlined to disinfect the area.

The authorities at the poultry farm of CPDO had been noticing unusual deaths amongst hens and chickens over the last few days. They sent blood samples of dead birds to Bhopal-based High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory (HSADL) for screening, which confirmed an outbreak of the bird flu virus (H5N1).

This comes nearly a fortnight after the bird flu virus hit Khurda and Mayurbhanj districts of Odisha, which led to the elimination of more than 40,000 birds.