Over 85,000 poultry birds die in avian flu in West Bengal

New Delhi, Jan 18 (UNI) The Central government today said 85,000 poultry birds have died in West Bengal due to the outbreak of avian flue two days ago.

While confirming that two samples from Murshidabad district had tested positive, it said fresh cases of mortality have been reported from districts of Burdwan, South 24 Parganas and Nadia. Morbid samples from newly-affected areas have been sent for analysis to the high security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal.

The government said so far 36,014 birds have been culled, 53,678 eggs and over 1,566 kgs of feed destroyed in Birbhum and Dakshin Dinajpur districts.

It said 64 rapid response teams are carrying out culling operations in Birbhum district and 33 teams are operating in Dakshin Dinajpur district. Sixteen teams are deployed in Murshidabad for intensive surveillance, it added.

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