Bird flu: Culling of poultry birds in full swing in Telangana village

Hyderabad: Amid bird flu alert, the culling process was in full swing here with authorities saying that over 20,000 birds have been culled in a Telangana village, which is considered the "epicentre" of the avian influenza outbreak.

"Till yesterday, 20,000-odd birds were culled. Today, we are hoping to do (culling of) another 30,000 to 35,000 birds today," Animal Husbandry Department Director D Venkateswarlu told PTI, adding that the authorities have escalated efforts targeting 1.25 lakh more.

The infected poultry farm in Thorrur village on the city outskirts in Ranga Reddy district would be "cleared" today. In addition, culling has started within one km area (termed as infected zone) around this "epicentre" of the bird-flu (H5N1 virus) outbreak. Venkateswarlu said 62 teams are on the job of culling all poultry birds, including healthy ones, in the infected zone, where their number is estimated to be 1.45 lakh.

Samples have been taken from "surveillance zone" (areas coming under 10 km radius from Thorrur) to see whether "there is "hidden infection" in 18 villages, where the poultry population is estimated at around eight lakh.

"There is no case for concern", said Venkateswarlu, even as poultry industry seemed worried over the fall-out of the bird-flu outbreak on sales of eggs and chicken.

Telangana produces six crore eggs per day, and the poultry population is just under seven crore, according to officials.

Department officials have initiated preliminary studies to identify the source of infection. Venkateswarlu said, "there was some free movement of some wild cranes", but hastened to add that further probe is required to draw a conclusion.

"We have collected samples of some water birds, including the ducks", he added.