Bird flu scare: Poultry culling to begin in Rourkela

Rourkela: The Sundargarh district administration will start culling of poultry in bird flu affected areas of Rourkela city on Sunday.

The administration decided to go for culling after confirmatory reports of bird flu  came to notice.

Sources said the samples which were sent for laboratory investigation to Bhopal have tested positive for H5N1 strain virus.

The culling will be initiated from Kacharu rural area in Hamirpur on the outskirts of the city.

Recently, some dead bats, crows were spotted at Indira Gandhi Park and CISF campus in Rourkela city. It had triggered panic among the citizens, especially after the closure of the park.

A special meeting was held under the chairmanship of Panposh Sub-Collector. It was decided in the meeting to set up four Rapid Response Teams to deal with the possible outbreak threat.

A special team led by Joint Director of Disease Control BK Parida and some scientist had visited the city for inspection.