August 22, 2007

Pakistan culls chickens after H5N1 bird flu found

Bird flu has broken out in a poultry farm in a northwestern town and authorities have culled more than 35,000 birds, a government official said Tuesday (Aug 22).

The outbreak was found in late July at a farm in Mansehra town, 80 km north of the capital, Islamabad.

Samples were tested after reports of the death of about 14,000 chickens, according to Food and Agriculture Ministry official, Rafiq-ul-Hassan Usmani.

The remaining 35,000 birds were culled after the samples tested positive, he said.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu has ravaged Pakistan's poultry industry this year but has so far not affected humans.