March 3, 2006

Cause of death of chicks in Guangzhou not bird flu

Guangzhou's Baiyun District Bureau of Agriculture has confirmed on Feb 28 that the bird flu was not the cause of death of 8,000 chicks at two chicken farms in Guangzhou.

The owner of the farms, Zhang Yenong, said laboratory tests have shown that the chicks died from coccidiosis, a common parasitic disease in poultry across the world.

Zhang said another 3,000 chicks in the farms have been culled to prevent the disease from spreading. He added that his farms have been sterilized by officials from the city's agricultural departments.

The local government has compensated Zhang with RMB8,000 after his chicks were culled.