Guj: Samples of 10 dead poultry birds test positive for avian flu

Samples of 10 dead poultry birds from Dolasa village in Gujarat's Gir Somnath district have tested positive for avian influenza, officials said on Saturday.

This is the first case in Gujarat where poultry birds have tested positive for the infection, an official from the state animal husbandry department said.

Earlier, samples of some wild birds had tested positive for the flu in few districts of the state.

"Ten samples of poultry birds (chicken) tested positive for avian influenza, following which 220 birds in three backyard farms in the village were culled," deputy director of animal husbandry at Gir Somnath, D M Parmar, said.

The district collector issued a notification restricting activities in one km radius of the site from where the carcasses of infected birds were recovered.

Local authorities restricted the movement of poultry products from the affected area as one of the measures to contain the spread of the infection.

Other districts of Gujarat that have reported confirmed bird flu cases are Junagadh, Valsad, Surat, and Vadodara. In these districts, samples of wild birds had tested positive for avian influenza.