Sale of chicken banned in Badaun after bird flu detected in sample from shop

A sample from a chicken shop in Bilsi tehsil here tested positive for bird flu following which the sale of chicken has been banned in a 10-kilometer radius, officials said on Monday.

Samples are also being collected from chicken shops and poultry farms in a kilometer radius for testing, Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Bilsi Rahdey Shyam Bahadur Singh said.

"Sampling by the veterinary department was done in a chicken shop in Shadab on February 4, along with other shops. The samples were sent to IVRI, Bareilly. Subsequently, one tested positive for bird flu," he said.

Sanitization of chicken shops and poultry farms is being done in a 10-km radius and the sale of chicken has been stopped with immediate effect, he said.

A report in this regard has been sent to the Centre.

Nearly a dozen states have reported cases of avian influenza since December.

Early this month, Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey told Lok Sabha there are no laboratory-confirmed human cases of avian influenza reported in the country.

Choubey said the strains detected so far in the birds are H5N1 and H5N8.  NAV