January 4, 2021

No known cause for mass death of chickens at farms in Barwala, India

Thousands of chickens at farms in the Indian town of Barwala died from an unknown cause, sparking off panic in the area.

However, local poultry farm owners denied any mass death of chickens at their farms, and were reluctant to speak due to fear of impact on their sales, which would worsen their financial state.

Poultry businesses in Barwala have recently started to recover from the impact of COVID-19 .

"As the news of birds dying en masse will spread, it will have an adverse impact on the sale of chicken and eggs in the region," said a poultry farm owner from Barwala.

Officials from the Animal Husbandry Department and a team of doctors have inspected affected farms in several pockets of the region and collected samples of the dead and live chickens. The samples have been sent to Jalandhar for testing.

Dr. Anil Banwala, deputy director of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Haryana, who inspected the farms, confirmed that there has been a high mortality among chickens in Barwala due to an unknown disease.

"The exact cause of the deaths is yet to be established. We have collected samples of the dead and alive chickens from the affected farms and sent these to the Regional Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory, Jalandhar. A preliminary report is expected in a few days," he said.

"Further action will be taken on the basis of the preliminary report. If poultry farm owners are found violating the norms to check the spread of infectious disease, they will be held accountable," Banwala said. According to him, at least 15 poultry farms in several pockets of the region have witnessed a large number of fatalities.

Although the exact reason behind the death is unknown, intensive cold and Ranikhet disease are being considered as probable causes.

- The Tribune