Kendrapara, Aug. 16: Around 1,000 chickens have died of a parasitic disease at a poultry farm in a seaside village here within a week.

Veterinary experts, who inspected the poultry farm at Kharinasi village in Mahakalpada recently, have said the birds died of a parasitic disease called coccidiosis, which affects the intestines.

They have ruled out the possibility of a bird flu outbreak. However, that has not allayed fear among the villagers who are scared at the thought of a possible epidemic.

"We rushed to the farm after the deaths farm owner Bankim Majhi informed us about it. The carcasses of the chickens were tested at the laboratory of the district veterinary unit here. Some samples were also sent to the Animal Disease Research Institute near Bhubaneswar for tests," said chief district veterinary officer Chaitanya Charan Sethi.

The untimely death of chickens in the farm had fuelled fears of bird flu among the locals. But the preliminary tests conducted by us on the birds found dead at a poultry at Kharinashi have ruled out bird flu. Veterinarians, who conducted the initial examinations and post-mortem of the birds, said that the signs were consistent with coccidiosis disease.

"Coccidiosis is caused by coccidian protozoa. The disease spreads from one animal to another by contact with the infected tissue. However, the disease is not contagious to humans and not air-borne," he said.

As a precautionary measure, the district veterinary department has sounded an alert and asked people not to touch the carcasses of the chickens.

"We have constituted rapid response teams consisting of livestock inspectors, village 'gomitras' and veterinary officers in the district and have directed them to look out for sick chickens. All the poultries will be vaccinated shortly to prevent the spread of the disease. We have requested the farm owners to inform us immediately when they spot dead chickens," said Sethi.

Sethi added that there were reports of distress sale of broiler chickens by poultry farm owners. "Our officials are visiting the village to sensitise poultry farm owners not to panic and resort to distress sale. We are conducting an awareness campaign for farmers regarding the need for vaccination," he said.