KENDRAPARA: THE death of over 1500 birds at a poultry farm at Kharinashi in Kendrapara has sparked fear of bird flu among farm owners and locals.
Veterinary officials reached the spot on Monday and sent carcasses of some of the fowls to laboratory at Kendrapara for examination. “We have also sent some of the samples to the Animal Disease Research Institute (ADRI) at Bhubaneswar for testing,” said Chaitanya Charan Sethi, Chief District Veterinary Officer (CDVO), Kendrapara.
The preliminary tests and autopsy report suggest that the birds were infected with Coccidiosis disease.
Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease of the intestinal tract of animals caused by coccidian protozoa.
The disease spreads from one animal to another through contact with infected faeces or ingestion of infected tissue. Coccidiosis diseases usually happen due to poor maintenance of litter.
The veterinary department has raised an alert among the people not to touch the dead chickens. “We have requested people to keep away from the dead chickens and inform the administration when they spot any,” Sethi said.
Blood samples of infected chickens were also collected for test and antidote has been administered to other fowls to arrest the spread of the virus. The farmers are advised to follow guidelines to avoid mortality, he added.
“A team comprising of livestock inspectors, ‘Go Mitras’ and veterinary officers has been formed to detect sick chickens. All the poultry will be vaccinated to prevent the spread of the virus. A decision on weather to take up culling or not will be taken soon,” Sethi said.
“I had started the poultry farm by obtaining a loan of `4.2 lakh last year. The death of 1500 birds due to some unknown disease has left my fate in dark,” said Bankim Majhi, the poultry farm owner.