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Over 15k chickens, quails culled after bird flu outbreak at Chhattisgarh farm
Veterinary department deputy director R S Baghel said that samples of some chickens and quails found dead on December 7 suggested symptoms of chronic respiratory disease among the birds.
Bird flu or H5N1 influenza outbreak at a state-run poultry farm at Baikunthpur in Chhattisgarh’s Korea district has prompted authorities to cull 15,426 chickens and quails, destroy 30,000 eggs and take precautionary measures within a 10-km radius of the affected area, officials said on Thursday. No case of H5N1 influenza has been detected among humans so far.
H5N1 influenza virus causes severe respiratory disease among birds. According to the World Health Organisation, human cases of H5N1 avian influenza occur occasionally but when humans get infected, the mortality rate is about 60%.
Veterinary department deputy director R S Baghel said that samples of some chickens and quails found dead on December 7 suggested symptoms of chronic respiratory disease among the birds. “Despite treatment, the abnormal deaths of birds continued,” Baghel said. He added that later the samples were sent to Bhopal’s National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, where tests were found positive for the H5N1 virus on December 23. “Immediately after getting reports of bird flu, we took permission from the Korea district administration and culled 15,426 birds and destroyed 30,000 eggs in the farm and its adjoining areas.”
Of the culled birds, 641 chickens were being reared within one km radius of the farm. “We have completed the culling process and sealed the farm. After sanitising the area in 10 km of its radius, we submitted a report to the state’s directorate of veterinary services on Wednesday,” Baghel said. “No human has been affected due to the outbreak.”
The official said for the next three months, they will be conducting surveillance in a 10 km radius of the affected area during which blood samples of birds will be sent to Bhopal for testing.
