Bird flu scare in Tamil Nadu

     Mooparipalayam (Tamil Nadu): The death of hundreds of chickens in Mooparipalayam village in Tamil Nadu has caused bird flu scare in the area. While officials quoted the probable reason for the sudden death of hundreds of birds as starvation, samples have been sent for tests to Bhopal. "Around 500 deaths have been caused. It is due to starvation. No disease is there but we are taking samples and they will be sent to labs for tests," said Moorthy, Joint Director, Animal Husbandry department of Tamil Nadu government.

    Poultry owners said they were suffering huge losses due to the panic created by reports of the disease. India reported its second outbreak of avian influenza early this month in Maharashtra, also the scene of the country's first brush with the virus last month. "The chicken price has fallen up to 30 to 5 rupees per Kilogram due to the reports of bird flu. We are suffering huge losses," Broiler Coordination Committee Chairman Lakshamanan said. Animal Husbandry officials said they were taking precautionary measures to tackle any unwanted situation. The recent outbreak of bird flu in chickens in India has come as a jolt to a 300 billion rupees (6.6 billion dollars) poultry industry still trying to recover from an earlier infection that triggered its worst crisis. Tens of thousands of birds were culled in the state. Bird flu in Maharashtra has already hit the poultry in Tamil Nadu's Namakkal, Erode and Coimbatore districts also. Kerala, which is a major market for broiler chickens, accounting for two million of the estimated five million birds dispatched every month from these three districts, has banned entry of poultry products from outside after the first outbreak of avian flu in Nadurbar in Maharashtra. Chicken is the staple meat product in India, where the majority Hindu population does not eat beef for religious reasons. India's poultry industry is among the largest in the world. It not only caters to a huge domestic market but also exports eggs and chicken.

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