Four lakh birds culled in Assam, exercise on in WB

Nearly four lakh birds were culled in Assam and Meghalaya while the exercise commenced on Tuesday in West Bengal's Malda district.

Nearly four lakh birds were culled in Assam and Meghalaya while the exercise commenced on Tuesday in West Bengal’s Malda district. Arunachal Pradesh took all possible measures to prevent the spread of avian flu and Orissa banned import of poultry.

The 18-day exercise to create bird free zones was over in Assam’s Kamrup Rural and Kamrup Metro districts where close to four lakh birds had been slaughtered. Culling operations were on in the state where the bird flu had surfaced. The state’s veterinary and animal husbandry departments had targeted the number of birds to be culled at around 5,40,000. Reports of unusual death of birds continued to pour in from some places. The state prohibited the sale of poultry in some districts as a precautionary measure.

The culling of avian flu-affected chickens began on Tuesday in West Begnal’s Malda district where the disease has resurfaced after eight months. Malda District Magistrate Sreedhar Ghosh said 16,000 birds would be killed at 13 places in Narhatta panchayat area. Avian flu had broken out early this year in Chanchal and English Bazar areas where over 86,000 and 23,000 birds were culled. In Meghalaya, nearly 1100 birds had been culled at some places in Ri Bhoi district in the past few days to prevent the outbreak of the bird flu in the state. Spraying of disinfectants was carried out in villages as officials collected samples from fowls which were sent for tests. Ban on import of poultry products from other states remained in force in Meghalaya. The Arunachal Pradesh government banned import of poultry products. A team of officers from animal husbandry and veterinary departments had been constituted to tackle any eventuality.