1.40 lakh birds culled so far in Jalgaon

Jalgaon, Apr 11 (UNI) About 1.40 lakh chicken of an estimated 3.10 lakh birds have been culled till this evening in the district after a fresh outbreak of the bird flu, according to Minister of State for Animal Husbandry Hassan Musharrif.

He said a compensation of Rs 19 lakh has also been paid so far to the poultry farmers. The authorities had started the culling operation on Saturday after quarantining 47 of the total 354 villages.

After touring the affected areas in this northern district of Maharashtra, Mr Musharrif disclosed that test reports of 38 samples of birds from untargetted areas were yet to be received from Bhopal's High Security Animal Laboratory.

The Minister did not ruled out the possibility of killing all the chicken in the entire district if 38 samples also tested positive for the H5N1 virus. Eleven of the 15 tehsils of the district have already been affected so far by the bird flu.

About 2.40 lakh chickens in 288 villages were culled following the second outbreak of the avian flu on March 28, while 95,000 birds were culled in 174 villages after the first outbreak on March 14.

Mr Musharrif said Rs 21 lakh were paid as compensation during the first outbreak and Rs 41 lakh during the second spread of the dreaded disease.

He said the poultry farmers would be given hybrid varieties of poultry birds -- Vanraj and Giriraj -- after three months, who lay 150 eggs a year as compared to 90 eggs by normal birds. These varieties, he said, are also less susceptile to the virus.

Mr Musharrif also expressed concern over the unhygienic conditions prevailing in the district and the spread of viral fever and dengue.

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