An employee removes dead poultry from the farm. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, March 19: Bird flu has been detected in the government-run farm in town where 872 of the 3,000 adult chickens died in the past three days. There are also 13,000 chicks in the same farm.

District magistrate Chittaranjan Das said culling will start from Friday.

Samples of dead birds from the farm had tested positive for the H5N1 virus in the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal.

Announcing the test results in Calcutta, animal resource development (ARD) minister Anisur Rahman said: “We have already put together teams for culling.” He added that the bird flu had spread from affected chicken in adjacent Chanchol block.

This morning employees of the farm with their protective gear — masks and gloves in place — were seen taking out dead chicken from the coops.

According to Nikhil Shee, the deputy director of the district ARD, all the chickens in this particular farm laid eggs — that is, they were not broiler chickens meant for direct human consumption. The eggs are later incubated and then sold to poultry farmers in the area and in neighbouring districts.

Anticipating a positive result from the Bhopal laboratory, the district magistrate had called an emergency all-party meeting last night. “We are prepared and are waiting for the report to arrive,” Das had said.

Earlier in the day, Rahman said steps were being taken to put together culling teams. “We will have to cull over 45,000 poultry birds (within 5km radius of the outbreak) if the results are positive,” Rehman had said.

On January 22, the Bhopal laboratory had found the bird flu virus in samples sent from Chanchol I block, 90km from here. Over 85,000 chickens were culled in the area then.

The district administration is now up to its neck in tackling the fresh outbreak of bird flu. Added to this is the preparation for the Kharba by-elections scheduled for April 12.