Mass Chicken Deaths Trigger Bird Flu Scare In Odisha’s Kendrapada

Kendrapada: Mass deaths of chickens at pountry farms have been reported from various parts of Odisha’s Kendrapada district on Saturday.

According to sources, chickens in large numbers have died at poultry farms in Balia panchayat of Derabis block of Kendrapada. Similar cases were also reported from Ender, Narasinghpur, and Tilanga panchayats of during the last two days, sources added.

The district administration in Kendrapada has taken steps to ensure sanitisation of the poultry farms and removal of the dead chickens. Besides, efforts are on to ensure that chicken and eggs from vulnerable districts do not enter Kendrapada.

The health authorities have been directed to keep close coordination with other departments for collection of early warning reports of unexplained bird deaths, sources added.

The incident has triggered fear among locals amid an outbreak of bird flu in Pipili in August. After reports of deaths of chickens at a poultry farm in Pipli came up, nearly 20,000 chickens had been culled in Pipli and Satyabadi areas in Puri.