The Central Poultry Development Organisation (CPDO) was emptied of all the birds on Wednesday with the Rapid Response Teams culling as many as 13,342 ducks, 369 emus and one ostrich. The outbreak of flu at CPDO was noticed a week ago.

“With this, we have culled all the birds and the next process is to sanitise the place,” said Arvind Jannu, Principal Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry. As many as 19,235 chicken and 11,939 eggs have also been killed till the day. Jannu said the rain lashing the City won’t pose a risk as all the culled birds are buried 15 to 20 feet below the surface.

“As and when the birds decompose and the volume of the mound decreases, we immediately fill it again with more chemicals and lime to ensure that the infection does not spread,” he added. There have been no avian flu cases reported anywhere outside the CPDO and no suspicious death of birds has been noticed anywhere else in the State, according to officials.

The CPDO has also taken up surveillance in a 10-km radius of the CPDO premises by collecting 119 serum samples and an equal number of cloacal samples. The samples have been sent to the laboratory concerned for investigation. Jannu said the claim of some villagers that the flu broke out two months ago was being verified.