Culling resumes as Surat poultry tests positive

     Surat/Ahmedabad: As some chickens on Saturday tested positive for the deadly avian flu virus in Surat region bordering Navapur the ground zero of the bird flu outbreak, government today resumed wide-scale culling of the poultry in Gujarat. Vatsala Vasudeva, District Magistrate, Surat, said here that they already had earlier culled birds in farms within 10 kilometres of Navapur as a precautionary measure but now with the recent report, all the birds across 71 villages, which included the unorganized poultry sector, will be culled by evening.

    "The avian flu has been detected among some chickens from one poultry farm in Utchal taluka. It was confirmed by the Union government on two samples out of thirteen that we had sent from the region," Gujarat Secretary for Breeding and Protection D K Rao said. The Timol poultry farm in Utchal is in the vicinity of the avian flu-hit Navapur taluka in Nandurbar district of Maharashtra. Steps had been taken by the Government following the outbreak of bird flu to prevent spread of the disease among rest of the birds and human beings as well. After the outbreak of bird flu in Maharashtra, the Centre had announced an alert across Gujrat. Some case of bird flu in six poultry farms near Surat in Gujarat were also confirmed and the State government has planned to go in for immediate vaccination of birds in Ucchal town of Surat district, with the help of a Central team.

    Earlier, The culling of over 60,000 chickens in Uchal taluka of Surat near Navapur was completed after which authorities turned their attention on bird feed imported by poultry farmers to ascertain if they were infected. Culling in Navapur and surrounding areas is over and more than 345,000 birds had been destroyed, officials said, adding a few remaining backyard poultry were being culled after compensating the owners. Panic had gripped the world's second most populous nation after 12 people were suspected for a possible human infection of the H5N1 virus but officials on Thursday said 11 of them have been tested negative for the virus. The World Health Organisation (WHO) had earlier said that mutations in the H5N1 virus are seemingly making it more deadly in chickens and more resistant in the environment but without yet increasing the threat to humans.

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