Bird Flu: Odisha to start culling tomorrow

To arrest the spread of bird flu, Odisha government today ordered culling of about 30,000 fowls in three km radius of Keranga in Khurda district as advised by the Centre, official sources said.

The culling of poultry is likely to start tomorrow, said Gopal Tripathy, nodal officer in Fisheries and Animal Resource Development department.

"We have received an advisory from the Centre to go for culling of fowls," he said.

The decision followed re-examination of serum of some infected poultry in Keranga area. Earlier, two dead birds confirmed H5N1 virus in them, he said.

Besides a commercial firm having about 25,000 fowls, culling of other poultry stocks would be carried out in the area, Tripathy said.

The department has so far trained about 120 personnel including 50 veterinary doctors to undertake culling.

Meanwhile, the state government has stopped giving eggs in the mid-day meal of schools in the affected areas of Keranga and 16 other adjacent villages.

With some chicken deaths reported from Mayurbhanj district bordering West Bengal, the government today sent some samples for test.