Bird Flu Outbreak in Bihar Leads To Hundreds of Chicken Being Culled

Officials have said that hundreds of chicken were culled and large quantity of eggs destroyed in Bihar's Purnea district following an outbreak of avian flu.

Purnea district magistrate Manish Verma said the administration had issued bird flu alert as a preventive measure.

Avian Influenza / Bird Flu-Causes-Symptoms-Treatment- FAQs
Bird flu (avian influenza/avian flu) is a disease caused by an influenza virus (H5N1) that primarily affects birds but can infect humans also.

"We are fully prepared to deal with an outbreak," he said.

He said bird flu was detected after 300 birds of a government poultry farm died suddenly a few days ago.

"We sent blood samples for test. The results confirmed bird flu," Verma told IANS over telephone.

The outbreak of Avian flu at Cape Farm held under check
A quarantine is under effect in an ostrich farm, after fears of avian attack resulted in the culling of nearly sixty ostriches

Verma said he had ordered culling of birds as a precautionary measure to check the spread of the virus.

An official of animal husbandry department said 15 teams of officials have been formed to check the spread of bird flu and ensure that birds and eggs were not send outside Purnea, about 350 km from here.

Advertisements

No Avian Flu In West Bengal And Kerala
The samples of poultry and ducks from Matigara, Darjeeling District in West Bengal & Kuttanad in Kerala have tested negative for Avian Influenza (H5 & H7) as per report.

"All the entry of border along the district have been sealed and additional officials deployed to prevent traders from sending birds outside," an official said.

Purnea is a major supplier of chicken across Bihar and neighbouring West Bengal.