More than 220 chicken and ducks have died at Central Poultry Development Organisation at Hesaragatta here, where avian influenza (H5N1) claimed over 3,600 turkeys over the last fortnight.

“Mortality among the chicken and ducks are also reported from CPDO,” Secretary in the Animal Husbandry Department Arvin Ramachandra Jannu said.

As many as 120 chicken died yesterday and 86 chicken and 17 ducks on Saturday.

“All these dead birds were disposed of as per the Government of India Action Plan. To know the cause of death, samples were collected from chicken and ducks and submitted to HSADL (High Security Animal Disease Laboratory), Bhopal, and the report is awaited,” Jannu said.

The Centre had notified the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in turkeys at CPDO on October 25.

Action has been initiated as per Government of India Action Plan 2012 for control, containment and eradication of avian influenza.

Sanitisation activity in the turkey unit has started and till yesterday one shed was sanitised. Remaining sheds would be sanitised in coming days and disinfection procedures will be followed. Yesterday, 78 officers and staffs were involved in this activity.

Sixty-eight villages in the 10-km radius from the turkey unit of CPDO had been identified as a surveillance zone and disease surveillance process has been activated. On Saturday, 10 serum samples and yesterday 40 serum samples and 41 cloacal samples were collected and submitted for laboratory investigation.

“There is no report of unusual mortality among the poultry and birds in the surveillance zone,” Jannu said. “Necessary direction has been issued to the concerned authority to close the school located in the CPDO for 15 days.”

While about 3,600 turkeys had died of avian influenza at the CPDO, the remaining 700 had been culled subsequently. A radius of 1 km around CPDO has been declared as infected zone.

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