Thane (Maharashtra): Around 300 chickens at a poultry farm in the Vehaloli village in Shahapur Taluka in Thane were culled after they were found to be infected with bird flu. At least 25,000 more chickens will be culled in the next few days, officials of the local administration said on Friday.
"Around 25,000 birds falling in a kilometre radius of the affected poultry farm will be killed within the next few days. The district animal husbandry department has been ordered to take measures to control the infection," Thane DM Rajesh J Narvekar said.
The incident came to light first when the poultry birds including chickens and ducks at a poultry farm suddenly started dying in large numbers. On Thursday evening, the caretakers at the farm reached out to the veterinary authority in the area and informed them about the sudden deaths. The authorities provided first aid to the birds that had survived, but more birds continued to die despite the treatment.
Alarmed by the ineffectiveness of the preliminary treatment, the veterinarians performed the necropsies of the dead hens and sent the blood samples of both dead and the living hens to a lab in Pune for testing. The report that came out later in the day confirmed that the chicken had contracted bird flu following which a team of 70 people, including the Assistant Commissioner of Animal Husbandry, rushed to the farm to ensure that all scientific protocols are being followed while culling the chickens.
The authorities also ensured that all the poultry birds in at least one kilometer radius around the farm be slaughtered. The authorities have also warned the people in the area against bringing any more poultry birds in the area until further notice. Addressing the safety concerns by the non-vegetarians in the area, the authorities said that humans have a very low chance of getting affected by the flu.
"We have a very low risk of contracting bird flu. However, it'll be safer if the chicken or eggs being consumed are heated at a minimum temperature of 70 degrees," District Collector Rajesh Narvekar said.
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