Bird flu outbreak in Davanagere; farmer culls poultry

A day after reports confirmed Bird flu (H5N8) cases at one of the poultry farms in Bannikodu in Harihara taluk of Davanagere district, officials of the Animal Husbandry Department visited the poultry farm and assessed the situation. The outbreak, which was reported at the poultry farm of a farmer Abhishek, has been closed down by the officials.

According to officials, the faecal samples of the birds were sent to National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal. "The lab reports confirmed the outbreak. The poultry farm owner Abhishek has already culled the birds completely," an official of the Animal Husbandry Department said.

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The officials have declared areas in one km of radius around the poultry farm as 'Infected Zone' and the area within the 10 km radius as 'Surveillance Zone'. According to officials, the outbreak incidents in both Mysuru and Davanagere have been Davanagere communicated to the department's top brasses in Bengaluru, where a high-level meeting is scheduled to be held today.