Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Afghan officials start culling birds in bird flu infected areas
Afghan health authorities carried out Afghanistan’s first chicken culling Wednesday since an outbreak of the deadly bird flu virus was confirmed in this war-ravaged Central Asian nation earlier this month, an Agricultural Ministry official said.
Close to 200 chickens were killed and dumped into a deep, dry well in Tashti Barche, a town about 10 miles west of Kabul, said Afghan veterinary health director Azizullah Esmoni.
Earlier this month the U.N. confirmed that six chickens had tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus in Kabul and the eastern city of Jalalabad.
The United Nations also announced Monday that two more cases of H5 bird flu were found in a chicken in Kabul and a dead crow in eastern Kunar province, but further testing must be performed at a U.N. Food and Agriculture lab in Italy to confirm if the birds were infected with the H5N1 strain of the virus.
The health director also stated several people in Tashti Barche voluntarily handed over their chickens to be culled because they feared an outbreak of the deadly virus.
Authorities are also expected to give the OK to continue culling more birds in the infected area.