Wednesday, March 29 2006 12:27 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bhopal: Culling of 6637 chickens started in 23 villages of Madhya Pradesh today (Mar 29, 2006) after detection of bird flu in poultry samples of Ichhapur town in Burhanpur district, a senior official said.

The culled birds were being disposed of in 18 pits dug across five quarantine zones within 10 km radius of Ichhapur, state Veterinary Services Commissioner Rajesh Rajora told sources.

The administration had recorded 716 birds in six villages falling under the alert zone (three km radius of site of infection) and 5921 chicken in 17 villages of the surveillance zone (10 km radius of Ichhapur), sources said.

Bird owners will be given compensation of Rs 40 per broiler, Rs 30 per layer and Rs 10 per chick, they added.

Around 112 veterinary department staff, including 23 Rapid Response Teams comprising cullers, doctors and handlers, were engaged in the entire operation, equipped with adequate preventive gear, Rajora said adding, the staff was administered Tamiflu to prevent spread of infection among them.

"The teams will cull, clean and mop, following which a drive to disinfect the area and 2300 houses will be carried out for around eight days," he said.

"Vaccinations will not (not) be carried out in the area as birds in both alert and surveillance zones were being culled", he said.

While the Madhya Pradesh government was carrying out culling operation in 23 villages around Ichhapur, Maharashtra government will cull the birds in 28 villages falling under the 10 km radius of the affected area tomorrow.

Adequate precautions were being taken to prevent spread of avian influenza as transportation of poultry and movement of humans was prohibited in 10 km radius of Ichhapur since yesterday after imposition of orders under section 144,official sources said.

"Apart from the Union Health Ministry team, state Health Department officials have also rushed to the spot," they said.

Districts neighbouring Maharashtra and Gujarat, like Barwani, Jhabua, Khandwa, Burhanpur, Khargone, Betul, Dhar, Dewas, Harda, Chhindwara, Hoshangabad and Indore, have been marked as 'critical' districts and instructions were issued to collect 3-5 poultry samples for tests by April 1, they added.

"Strict vigil was being maintained at 30 entry points to the state from Maharashtra and three entry points from Gujarat, where major transportation of poultry products was recorded," sources said.

"Besides, meetings of poultry breeders associations have been held in every district to inform them about Centre's biosafety norms and ask them to ensure its strict implementation," they added.

In a bid to prevent human transmission, 22 state research laboratories have been put on alert and Rs 2.25 crore worth funds have been distributed among districts to purchase necessary equipment, medicines, disinfectants and protective kits to dea with the bird flu threat, sources said.