May 28, 2007

India shuts farm after chicken deaths, tests for bird flu

Authorities closed down a poultry farm in eastern India after hundreds of chickens died, and samples have been sent to a federal laboratory to determine whether they were infected with bird flu, a top official said Friday (May 25).

Preliminary tests indicated the chickens may have died from Newcastle disease, a highly contagious respiratory virus, and not the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, said Dilip Das, director of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services.

Newcastle disease affects all species of birds, but is not known to attack humans.

Samples have been sent to India's High Risk Animal Disease Laboratory in the central Indian city of Bhopal for a final determination, Das said.

The chicken farm is located on the outskirts of Calcutta, capital of West Bengal state.

India confirmed an outbreak of H5N1 in the west last year, but declared itself bird flu free after slaughtering hundreds of thousands of chickens. No human cases were reported.

Earlier this month, the deaths of more than 2,500 chickens at a poultry farm in north Bengal, was attributed to Newcastle disease after laboratory tests in Bhopal proved negative for bird flu.

Das said there were 60 million chicken and ducks in West Bengal state.