Hit by avian flu again,
West Bengal's Malda begins culling
Kolkata,
Dec 16 (IANS) Malda district of West Bengal has been hit by
bird flu again - the second time this year. Culling of poultry
has begun in the area, an official said Tuesday.
"We
have started mopping and culling of poultry within a radius
of three km from the affected district," Malda District
Magistrate Sridhar Ghosh told IANS.
About
3,5000 poultry in Malda, 350 km from here, have been affected
with the H5N1 bird flu virus, he said.
"Due
to fog and bad weather conditions our operation is a bit delayed.
About 15,000 hens and ducks will be culled in total,"
Ghosh said.
Animal
Resources Development (ARD) Minister Anisur Rehman had said
Monday that two blood samples of dead poultry sent to the
High Security Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Bhopal had
tested positive for avian flu.
The
samples were from Narhatta and Satgheria villages under English
Bazar police station in Malda.
The
samples were sent to the laboratory after around 5,000 poultry
died in Narhatta village during the past week.
Sale
and consumption of poultry products has been banned in the
affected area.
In
January, over 200,000 birds were culled when avian flu was
detected in several North Bengal and South Bengal districts.
An outbreak of bird flu had been detected in Malda in March
and more than 50,000 birds were culled.
Indo-Asian
News Service
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