Aivian flu claims 3,600 turkeys in govt poultry body at Bangalore

About 3,600 Turkeys have died of avian influenza (H5N1) at the Central Poultry Development Organisation at Hesaragatta on the city outskirts, a government official said here today.

"The remaining 700 Turkeys have been culled",Secretary in the Department of Animal Husbandry,Arvind Jannu,told PTI here.

CPDO has been quarantined,he said. Confirmation that these birds died following the influenza came from Bhopal-based high security animal disease laboratory two days ago.

A radius of one kilometre around CPDO has been declared as an infected zone. "We are watching other birds".

A radius of 10 km has been demarcated as surveillance zone. As many as 15 commercial farms in 68 villages with a poultry population of one and half lakh come under this.

Sale of poultry products by these farms as well as poultry preparation in non-vegetarian hotels in the surveillance zone has been banned for a week, Jannu said.

Department officials said 25 rapid response teams have been deployed in the surveillance zone to check traces of the virus in other birds. PTI RS BH APR BS 10261904 NNNN