Intense heat kills 400 chicken

Badwani, MP, May 28 (UNI) Intense heat, not a contagious disease was the cause of death of nearly 400 chicken at a village near Sendhwa in this district last week, officials said.

While veterinary surgeons from Badwani, who visited Rajangaon yesterday, claim that only 70 chicken died due to improper arrangement against intense heat, the villagers claimed that 400 hen had died.

''There was no symptom of any contagious disease in the village poultry regularly monitored after last year's outbreak of birdflu in areas bordering Maharashtra'', team leader Dr R C Panchal told reporters.

The villagers might have given inflated figures probably to claim higher compensation, he said.

As a precautionary measure, ten serum samples and faecal samples were being sent to Bhopal's High Security Animal disease Laboratory, he said.

Poultry samples from areas bordering Maharashtra are being sent to the laboratory every month for monitoring bird-flu, Dr Panchal said.

UNI