Poultry Culling In Villages Adjoining Krushnaprasad Block Begins

Puri: The culling of poultry, which had begun in Krushnaprasad block under Brahmagiri tehsil in Odisha’s Puri district, ended on Friday.

As decided by the Animal Resources Department (ARD), the culling teams are now carrying out the operation in villages within one km radius of Krushnaprasad block.

Talking to the media here, chief district veterinary officer (CDVO) Girija Patnaik said that 10 teams have been formed of which five teams have started culling of poultry in the adjoining villages. Three teams have been kept at Krushnaprasad block while the other two have already culled over 400 hens and chicks in two poultry farms at Maluda and Patharaganja villages and dumped them inside a pit after applying formalin and bleaching powder.

The two teams have visited the villages under one km radius of Krushnaprasad block and started culling poultry kept by the people in their house, he said.

The CDVO also said that the district administration had banned the procurement of poultry and eggs from Krushnaprasad block areas to other places for at least 10 days. Besides, instructions have been given to schools and anganwadi centres not to include eggs in the midday meals during this period.

On the other hand, the authorities of Animal Disease Research Institute (ADRI), Phulnakhara would visit Chilika Lake to collect the excreta samples of migratory birds to test these for the avian influenza.

Meanwhile, panic gripped Paradip following the death of several crows in Badapadia and Nehru Bangala areas. Jagatsinghpur CDVO Dr Ramesh Chandra Behera said the death of the crows was not due to avian influenza. “There is no need to panic since crows usually die during the winter season,” he added.

Earlier in the day, a crow was found dead on the roof of a house at Saheed Nagar in Bhubaneswar. Contacted, the ADRI officials said that they will collect the dead crow for the test in the laboratory of the institute to find out whether it died due to avian influenza.