Avian flu: Over 160,000 poultry birds to be culled in Haryana's Panchkula

Over 1.60 lakh birds of five poultry farms in Haryana's Panchkula district are set to be culled as some poultry samples there have tested positive for the avian flu, Agriculture minister J P Dalal said on Friday.

Five poultry samples of Siddharth Poultry Farm at Raipur Rani block in Panchkula were found positive for the H5N8 strain of avian flu. It is an influenza virus, Dalal said while talking to reporters here.

Similarly, the samples of some birds from Nature Poultry farm at Panchkula too tested positive, he said.

The samples were sent to a laboratory in Bhopal and their reports have come now, the minister added.

As per the government of India guidelines, the poultry of farms located within one km of any farm fund having infected birds have to be culled, Dalal said.

Accordingly, as per estimates, around 1.66 lakh poultry birds of five poultry farms in Panchkala will have to be culled, the minister added.

The employees of these poultry farms too would be examined by the health department, Dalal further said.

They would also be given anti-viral medicines, he further said.

Notably, over four lakh poultry birds had died at some farms in Haryana's Panchkula district over the past several days.

Panchkula's Barwala-Raipur Rani area is one of the largest poultry belts in the country with 70-80 lakh birds in more than 100 farms.

The mortality rate in poultry birds was unusually high in this winter season.