Bird flu confirmed in Nepali capital

Thousands of chicken have died of bird flu at a poultry farm in Dallu, Nepali capital Kathmandu, according to Dr. Ram Krishna Khatiwada, program director at the Animal Health Directorate said Sunday. The Directorate collected samples of dead chicken from the Dallu Layer farm on March 13 after its owner, Ranga Nath Poudel, reported death of chicken at the farm. t 15,160 chicken have died of avian influenza in the farm, Krishna Khatiwada said. "With confirmation of bird flu, we have started culling fowls," he said, adding that the directorate has deployed a veterinary doctor, two technicians and seven helpers to disinfect and dump the chicken feed. "We have declared the area a crisis zone and intensified vigilance," he was quoted by Sunday's The Himalayan Times daily as saying. Khatiwada informed that the Narayangadh-based Abinash Hatchery had supplied the chickens and feed to the farm. The farm first recorded fowl deaths on March 2. Bird flu has made inroads into the outskirts of the capital at a time when Jhapa, Panchthar, Ilam and Sunsari districts in eastern Nepal are under surveillance for the deadly flu strain. A month ago, the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Means had directed the government to take immediate steps to control the flu strain. It had urged the government to provide more fund, put a mobile team into service and step up vigilance on the border to keep avian influenza at bay.