Massive culling as Bird Flu revisits
Bureau Report

KARACHI—Following the confirmation of bird flu in chickens at Gadap town here, the culling operation of the birds has started.
Sources said that there were about 5,500 chickens in the affected farm, whose culling process has started. These chickens after being culled would be buried 35/40 feet underneath the ground, they said.
Sources further said that the health department officials were present on this occasion for supervising and ensuring the whole culling process completed in accordance with the set standard. Health Department has advised the people eating chickens for cooking it at 80 degree centigrade. They have further advised those working at the chicken shops and the family members handling the chicken meat to wear gloves as precautionary measure.
Department of Livestock has been issued special instructions for keeping a strict watch on Bird Flu in NWFP. Talking to Geo News, Secreatary Agriculture Arbab Shahrukh said it was also decided to shift the poultry farms away from densely populated areas of Abbotabad and Mansehra.
Blood samples of chicken are being gathered from poultry farms across the province, he said, adding teams at district level had also been set up to take stock of the situation at poultry farms in each district. Arbab Shahrukh told the shifting of poultry farms from populated locations will be undertaken after ensuring all necessary facilities at the new locations. Instructions are also being given to the people associated with poultry industry that all precautionary measures betaken while killing the infected birds.
He said one person died in December last year by contracting fatal H5N1 virus. The Sindh government has confirmed the presence of bird flu virus in poultry farms located in Karachi’s Gadap area.
Talking to Geo News, Sindh government’s Poultry Research department director Dr.Ali Akbar today announced that the deadly H5N-1 strain of bird flu has been identified in Gadap and 5,000 chickens have already been culled.
Earlier, the department had sent samples from the poultry farms to the National research lab in Islamabad to confirm the presence of the highly contagious avian influenza. In the aftermath of mysterious deaths of thousands of chicken since last 3 days, which were conformed as occurred due to suspected deadly viral of Bird flu and Rani Khet, both the affected poultry farms and nearby environs have been completely sealed.
The poultry farms located in the Gaddap Town located on edge of Super Highway, witnessed mysterious en masse deaths of chicken since Wednesday, and which prompted the surveillance teams of health officials and Sindh Poultry Research Institute (SPRI) to survey the affected poultry farms, and procure samples of dead chicken forwarded to (NDL) National Defense Laboratory, Islamabad.