More than 18,000 birds culled as avian flu hits eastern Nepal

Jan 22, 2009, 3:28 GMT

   Kathmandu - Nepalese health authorities have culled more than 18,000 birds in eastern Nepal, where bird flu was discovered in chickens, official reports said Thursday.

   Health authorities focused their efforts on the border town of Kakarbhitta in the Jhapa district, about 450 kilometres east of Kathmandu.

   Hundreds of health workers fanned out across the town and had culled more than 18,000 chickens and nearly 400 ducks and pigeons by Wednesday evening, the official Rising Nepal newspaper said.

   The teams were deployed around Kakarbhitta Sunday after the government confirmed bird flu in chicken in the town.

   The government teams were also investigating poultry farms in a 10-kilometre zone around the town, the newspaper said.

   The government's rapid response team had also intercepted and destroyed eggs and other poultry products.

   'Supply of all birds from the affected areas to other parts of the country has been banned,' said Ram Krishna Khatiwada, chief of the technical team responsible for culling the birds.

   'We have also asked people to inform us if they have any symptom of the disease,' Khatiwada told the newspaper.

   Government teams were also spraying disinfectant on vehicles passing through the town or coming to Nepal from India.

   Kakarbhitta is a major border crossing into the Indian state of West Bengal and is frequently used to import animals and birds from neighbouring Indian states.

   Earlier this week, the Nepalese government said at least 24 of Nepal's 75 districts were in danger of bird fu and it was monitoring the situation closely.

   The Nepalese government banned the import of poultry and other related products from India after the discovery of bird flu there.