Patna, Feb 27 Around 6,000 chickens were culled in Patna after the Animal Resource Department found the poultry birds infected with avian influenza.
Officials said the infected birds were found at the Poultry Research and Training Centre operated by Bihar Animal Sciences University in Kaushal Nagar, Chitkohra, near the airport area.
Following laboratory confirmation, the Dairy, Fisheries and Animal Resources Department ordered immediate culling and burial of all chickens at the facility.
The entire locality has since been sanitised, and residents have been advised to follow strict precautionary measures.
On the instructions of the Patna District Magistrate, the movement of chickens and roosters into and out of the municipal limits has been completely banned.
The district administration has declared a 1-kilometer radius around the affected poultry farm as an infection zone and a 9-kilometer radius as a surveillance zone.
Entry of eggs, poultry birds and feed into these areas has been prohibited unless accompanied by proper sanitisation certification.
Given the dense population around the Chitkohra bridge near the airport, surveillance has been intensified.
A check-post has been established in Kaushal Nagar, with personnel from Shastri Nagar and bypass police stations deployed for round-the-clock monitoring.
Entry into the poultry farm area without masks has been strictly prohibited.
As a precaution, the administration of Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan has strengthened preventive arrangements.
Visitors are allowed to view peacocks and other birds only from a minimum distance of eight feet. Insecticide spraying is being carried out around bird enclosures, chemical disinfectants are being used at entry gates, and staff members have been provided masks.
Zoo authorities confirmed that no case of bird flu has been reported within the premises so far.
As part of containment measures, poultry farming has been banned for two months in the affected and surrounding areas.
Movement of people near the infection zone has also been restricted.
--IANS
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