May 17, 2016

Over 130,000 birds culled in Indian state due to bird flu

Concerned authorities in India's Karnataka state has ordered the culling of over 130,000 birds at a poultry farm in Melakera village in Bidar district, which was hit by a bird-flu outbreak.

The National Institute of Animal Diseases at Bhopal had confirmed that the private farm tested positive for H5N1 bird flu.

Earlier, the owner of the farm, one of the largest in Karnataka, reported killing hundreds of birds supposedly affected by severe heat.

The state government directed health officials to prevent the spread of the disease to farms in Bidar and neigbouring districts.

Besides culling the birds, health teams were directed to destroy eggs to prevent their sale and consumption.

The farm has been sealed and a huge pit has been dug up to bury the culled birds. The farm would also be quarantined for a week.

Karnataka has around 7,000 poultry farms with a total stock of more than 50 million birds. The state's daily egg production is about 12 million.

The animal husbandry department of Tamil Nadu state, meanwhile, has imposed a ban on all poultry products including chicken, turkey, duck, duck manure and chicken feed from Karnataka and Kerala due to the reported disease outbreak. It has also stopped the supply of poultry feed from Karnataka and Kerala until the situation is again reviewed by the central and state governments.

The department posted surveillance teams in 12 entry points to the state through Coimbatore and 23 entry points in Krishnagiri to keep watch on vehicles carrying poultry products from Karnataka and Kerala, as well as vehicles returning from these states after bringing poultry supplies. The returning vehicles are sprayed with germicide and thoroughly disinfected before being allowed entry to the state.