Rapid Response team members on surveillance and culling duty after bird flu was detected in in Pipili in Puri district Odisha, on Sunday, August 25, 2024
| Photo Credit: PTI
More than 5,000 chickens were culled after the H5N1 strain of avian influenza or bird flu was detected in the Pipili area of Odisha’s Puri district, a government official said on Sunday, August 25, 2024.
After mass deaths of chickens at a poultry farm in Pipili, the State government had sent a veterinary team, which collected samples and sent them for testing, he said. After the samples came back positive, the government started culling chickens in the farm and in the locality on Saturday, august 24, he added.
While 300 chickens were culled on Saturday, more than 4,700 were culled on Sunday, said Jagannath Nanda, additional director of disease control. A total of 20,000 birds will be culled in Pipili, he said. Rapid response teams have been engaged to cull the birds and bury them, he added.
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services Joint Director, Manoj Patnaik, said that all birds within a 1 km radius of the poultry will be culled, and the farm will not be allowed to stock chicken for another five months.
The farmers will be provided compensation as per guidelines, he said. While for one small chicken, they will get ₹20, for bigger ones, the compensation is ₹60, Mr. Patnaik said.
