The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Around 1,290 domestic fowls were culled and 199 eggs destroyed in Birhali village in Pirganj upazila in Rangpur yesterday after the detection of avian influenza, virus of bird flu.

In Bagerhat, some 900 chickens died at a poultry farm at Pashchim Saralia village in Morelganj upazila yesterday. The dead chickens were dumped under the soil.

Bimal Chandra Das, district livestock officer at Rangpur, said 944 chickens, 110 ducks, 11 pigeons and 21 other birds were culled when the bird flu was detected in Pirganj upazila.

Border area adjacent to the state of West Bengal has been sealed off as a precaution measure.

Germicides are being sprayed on the vehicles, particularly to chicken and eggs carrying vehicles, at different check posts to make those free from germs, according to the Livestock Department.

The check posts have also been set up in Goreya, Boda, Debiganj, Pirganj, Setabganj and 29-mile areas, it said.

The district administration also asked the BDR to keep vigil on the border so that chicken and eggs could not be smuggled into the country from India.

In Bagerhat, some dead crows were also found littered on the roadside of the district town.

The Livestock Department was yet to confirm the reason behind the deaths of the fowls but sent the samples of the dead crows and chicken to Dhaka and Barisal for laboratory test.