Indian state of Odisha culls poultry after bird flu outbreak

NEW DELHI, Aug 25 (Reuters) - The eastern Indian state of Odisha has culled more than 1,000 chickens after testing positive for the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza, or bird flu, a state government official told Reuters on Sunday. The epicentre of the outbreak was in Puri district, about 30 km (19 miles) from the state capital Bhubaneswar, and followed the recent deaths of 1,800 birds at a local poultry farm. “Work is underway. We will cull about 20,000 birds,” Additional Director of Disease Control Dr Jagannath Nanda told Reuters. The H5N1 strain is considered highly pathogenic and can also be transmitted to animals such as pigs, horses, big cats, dogs and occasionally humans. The spread of the virus is a ...