He added, “Preparations are being made for culling operations.” While no cases have been detected in the state since April 4, the state government has been monitoring the districts continuously, Rehman said. “Last week, around 100 chicken died in Kurseong. We sent the samples to the Animal Diseases Laboratory in Bhopal. The lab officials confirmed on Friday morning that the samples had tested positive for bird flu.”
He added that a team of doctors has already been sent to cull around 16,500 poultry birds within the five-km radius of the outbreak area.
Following the initial outbreak in the state in January, over 3.5 million birds were culled in a bid to control the avian influenza epidemic that has struck 15 out of 19 districts. The outbreak of bird flu was first confirmed on January 15. It affected Malda, Cooch Behar, East Midnapore, South Dinajpore, South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Burdwan, Bankura, Purulia, Birbhum, Howrah, Hooghly and Murshidabad.