The Odisha government is set to begin the culling of chickens following the confirmation of avian influenza or bird flu in the poultry farms of the Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT) located in Bhubaneswar.
A member of the Rapid Response Team (RRTs) stated that the picking and culling of chickens will be implemented within a one km radius of OUAT located inside the campus of the College of Veterinary Science & Animal Husbandry at the Siripur locality.
“We had sent the blood sample of the birds to the High-Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal and these were tested positive to the H5N1 virus,” said Prof Susen Panda of the OUAT.
The RRT has categorized the OUAT poultry farm and its surrounding areas into ‘infested’ zone, and ‘surveillance’ zone. Till Tuesday, 2,000 birds in the OUAT farm had been culled out of the 15,000 chickens settling in the farm. As per the standard operating procedures of the central government, post the culling of the chicken, they are being buried inside a 12 feet ditch.
In the interim, the authorities of the Nandankanan Zoo located at the outskirts of Bhubaneswar have decided to shut the Bird Park from Tuesday because of the avian influenza outbreak.