Culling of 6637 chickens started in 23 villages of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday after detection of bird flu in poultry samples of Ichhapur town in Burhanpur district, a senior official said.
The culled birds were being disposed of in 18 pits dug across five quarantine zones within 10 km radius of Ichhapur, state Veterinary Services Commissioner Rajesh Rajora said.
The administration had recorded 716 birds in six villages falling under the alert zone (three km radius of site of infection) and 5921 chicken in 17 villages of the surveillance zone (10 km radius of Ichhapur), sources said.
Bird owners will be given compensation of Rs 40 per broiler, Rs 30 per layer and Rs 10 per chick, they added.
Around 112 veterinary department staff, including 23 Rapid Response Teams comprising cullers, doctors and handlers, were engaged in the entire operation.
The team is equipped with adequate preventive gear, Rajora said.
The teams will cull, clean and mop, following which a drive to disinfect the area and 2300 houses will be carried out for around eight days, he said.
Vaccinations will not be carried out in the area as birds in both alert and surveillance zones were being culled, he said.
{{/usCountry}}Vaccinations will not be carried out in the area as birds in both alert and surveillance zones were being culled, he said.
{{/usCountry}}While the Madhya Pradesh government was carrying out culling operation in 23 villages around Ichhapur, Maharashtra government will cull the birds in 28 villages falling under the 10 km radius of the affected area on Thursday.