Samples collected from recently found dead birds in Navapur tehsil have tested positive for avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu.
Dr Sanjay Kachane, district deputy commissioner, animal husbandry (AH) department, said that the samples from the three more poultry farms tested positive for bird flu.
“The district administration on Thursday received the report from the Bhopal-based National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases stating that the dead birds were affected with bird flu,” he said.
According to him, the three poultry farms are located within a radius of three kilometres of the farm where birds were initially detected with the viral infection.
“We will begin the culling process of birds in the three farms immediately. The number of birds that will be culled would be over 1.5 lakh. We will also destroy the eggs,” said a senior AH official.
The department culled 2.47 lakh birds and destroyed over 9 lakh eggs and over 28 metric tons of poultry feed of nine poultry farms after the earlier samples of dead birds from three poultry farms tested positive for bird flu.
The farms included the three where samples were tested positive and remaining six located within one km of its radius.
{{/usCountry}}The farms included the three where samples were tested positive and remaining six located within one km of its radius.
{{/usCountry}}Navapur tehsil had reported an outbreak of bird flu in 2006 and 2021.
Meanwhile, the Navapur poultry farm association claimed that the poultry business in the tehsil has been severely affected.
There are 27 poultry farms in the tehsil that supply birds and eggs to Surat and other districts of north Maharashtra, including Nashik, Jalgaon and Dhule.
“Each of the affected poultry farmers where culling has taken place has suffered a loss of about ₹1 crore. Customers are unwilling to buy birds and eggs from us following the outbreak of bird flu,” said association president Arif Balesaria.