(Rptg, correcting figure in para one, line two)

Bhopal, Mar 31 (UNI) The Madhya Pradesh government has culled about 8,540 birds and destroyed 447 rpt 447 eggs in and around Icchapur area in Burhanpur district, where the state's first and only H5N1 sample was reported on March 28, official sources said today.

The culled chickens had been buried in 18 pits, while two veterinary doctors -- Indore's Dr D K Jain and Sanwer's Dr Navin Shivhare -- were suspended for negligence during culling operations.

The district administration distributed Rs 2.12 lakh as compensation to poultry farm owners, while disinfectant had been sprayed in 2,300 houses. The villages within 10-km radius of the affected area had been declared as high security zone.

Meanwhile, 2,250 fowls had been culled and buried in four villages -- Dhamnia, Belghat, Ranjangaon and Umarthi -- in Badwani district, adjoining bird flu-hit Jalgaon district of Maharashtra.

Sources added that 300 samples had been collected from eight districts -- Burhanpur, Badwani, Khargone, Seoni, Balaghat, Chhindwara, Betul and Jhabua -- adjoining Maharashtra.

The samples had been sent to the state capital-based High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) for examination.

UNI SHD-PS VD RAI2042