Now bird flu in Surat poultry, culling resumes

“Culling has resumed in a radius of 10 km from Uchchal and we are focussing on these areas. More than 19,000 chickens will be culled today itself. Disinfecting operations are already underway and will be intensified,” Rao said. No case of bird flu was detected among humans from the region, they said. “The fresh news of some chicken samples testing positive for the bird flu is not alarming as we have already culled all the poultry from that particular area. Moreover, all those involved in the work presently have been given preventive shots of Tamiflu,’’ he said.

Authorities had earlier this week culled over 73,000 chickens and destroyed thousands of eggs in Surat, Uchchal and surrounding regions of the state, adjoining Maharashtra’s avian flu-affected Navapur taluka.

In Navapur, however, officials said the situation would be normal within three days. Except for the disposal of litter in poultries, all other operations were likely to end within the next couple of days, Public Health Department Secretary, Dr Vijay Satbir Singh said.