Kathmandu - The Nepalese government Sunday said it had begun culling thousands of birds including poultry following the discovery of bird flu in chicken in the eastern part of the country. Government officials said teams of specialists were mobilised in the Jhapa district, about 450 kilometres east of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, to cull their birds in the affected area.
"Special teams arrived from Kathmandu to oversee the culling of
some 13,000 birds, including poultry in and around the town of Kakarbhitta," said Laxman Prasad Hamal, a senior government administrator of the district.
"We have targeted a 3-kilometre area around the town as the most affected and we are also closely monitoring a 10-kilometre radius to check the movement of captive birds to other parts of the country,' Hamal said.
Health officials have also been spraying disinfectants on vehicles crossing into Nepal from India.
Police in the Jhapa district said 350 poultry farm and 135,000 chickens were being kept under special watch, and that the import of birds into neighbouring areas had been banned.
Kakarbhitta is a major border transit point with the Indian state of West Bengal.
On Friday, the Nepalese government declared an "emergency" in the 10-kilometre area around Kakarbhitta after announcing the discovery of the bird flu virus in chicken.
Nepalese officials said they would pay out compensation to poultry farmers and individuals whose chicken and ducks are destroyed.
Local officials have also launched an awareness campaign across the region to prevent the spread of bird flu to other parts of the Himalayan nation.
