Chicken deaths spark bird flu scare in Odisha

Kendrapara (Odisha), Aug 17 (PTI) En-masse death ofover a thousand chickens at a poultry farm in a seasidevillage here triggered panic with the locals suspecting thedeath to be an outbreak of bird flu. However, veterinary experts who inspected the poultryfarm in Kharinasi village allayed fears of flu and said thechickens died of coccidiosis disease not bird flu. "Around 1,100 birds including chicks died during the pastone week. After the deaths were reported to us by the farmowner Bankim Majhi, we rushed to the poultry farm. Aftersounding an alert, the bodies of chickens were subjected tolaboratory test at the district veterinary college here,"Chief District Veterinary Officer (CDVO), Chaitanya CharanSethy said. "Some of the samples were sent for test to the AnimalDisease Research Institute near Bhubaneswar," he said. The untimely death of chickens in the farm had fuelledfears of bird flu among the locals. But preliminary testsconducted on the birds found dead have ruled out bird flu,Sethy said. Veterinarians, who conducted the initial examinationsand post-mortem of the birds, said that the signs wereconsistent with coccidiosis disease. It is a parasitic diseaseof the intestinal tract of animals caused by coccidianprotozoa. The disease spreads from one animal to another bycontact with the infected tissue. However, the disease is not contagious and is notair-borne, he added. In no other poultry farm large-scale death of chickens hasbeen reported. However as a precautionary measure, thedepartment has sounded an alert and asked people not to touchthe chickens dropping dead. We have requested the farm ownersto inform the administration when they spot dead chickens, theofficial said. "We have constituted rapid response teams comprisinglivestock inspectors, village ‘gomitras’ and veterinaryofficers in the district and directed them to detect sickchickens. All poultry will be vaccinated shortly to preventthe spread of the animal disease," Sethi said. There were reports of distress sale of broiler chickens bypoultry farm owners. Our officials are visiting the village,sensitising the poultry farm owners not to get panicked andresort to distress sale. We are conducting an awarenesscampaign for farmers regarding the need for vaccinations, theofficial added. PTI CORR SKN CRASV