Bird flu fear grips as 300 chickens perish in farm in Jharkhand

More than 300 chickens have died in the last five days at a government poultry farm in Sector 12 of Bokaro's Lohanchal, prompting the district animal husbandry department to issue an alert. The samples have been sent to Kolkata for testing, from where they will be sent to Bhopal for final verification.

Bokaro Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kuldeep Chowdhary directed the concerned department to take precautionary measures. District Animal Husbandry Officer Manoj Kumar Mani said on Sunday that they have appealed to residents to refrain from consuming chickens and eggs for a few days. “This farm has two types of chickens - Kadaknath and RIR. Deaths occur in both variants. A rapid response team has been formed,” he said.

The sale of eggs from the government chicken farm has been stopped since February 14 last year. Bleaching powder, lime and other insecticides spread on the farm due to fear of bird flu.

Sources said a laboratory in Kolkata has confirmed bird flu in samples sent on Saturday, but officials are awaiting the final report from the laboratory in Bhopal. The district animal husbandry officer said the Kolkata-based laboratory has also sent test reports to the Bhopal-based ICAR-National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD). “We are waiting to hear from there,” Mani said.