Culling operations began in a private poultry farm near Humnabad in Bidar district after some birds were found to be affected with bird flu (H5N1) on Monday. Around 1.4 lakh chicken will be culled in 48 hours.
Fifty culling teams of five members each began the elaborate process early in the morning. They cleared an area of one kilometre radius surrounding the farm. They distributed personal protective gear that includes rubber overalls, gloves and transparent headgear. The teams divided the chicken into lots of 2,800 each. Each member of a team takes up a chicken and wrings its neck to cull it. Others formed groups of two where one held the legs and the other pulled the neck to cull it in an instant.
The carcasses were thrown in a huge pit dug using earthmovers adjoining the gate of the farm. Rapid response teams of the State government and a few officers of the Union government are supervising the operation.
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Deputy Commissioner Anurag Tewari said sale and transport of chicken within one kilometre of the infected farm was prohibited. He also said teams had been deputed at the border of Telangana and Maharashtra to check the transport of birds.