SOME 31 CHICKENS CULLED FOR SUSPECTED BIRD FLU IN BANDUNG

Bandung, West Java, Feb. 26 (ANTARA) - Officers of the Bandung animal disease control and prevention service culled 31 chickens suspected of having been infected with bird flu (Avian Influenza (AI) at Pasir Jaya village, Bandung, on Thursday.

The local authorities conducted rapid tests on three dead chickens owned by A Sopian, a local farmer, after Sopian's son reported the sudden deaths of his father's chickens, Elise Wieke, of the Bandung agriculture office's animal disease control and prevention service, said.
"The rapid tests confirmed that the three dead chickens carried the bird flu virus, and therefore, we immediately carried out the culling," she said.
The culling was done by giving the chickens lethal injections and burning their dead bodies, she said. The officers then sprayed the chicken coops with disinfectant.
Meanwhile, in Yogyakarta, health authorities have warned the local public to be on alert against bird flu as two cases were discovered in the region in early 2009.
In Banyuwangi, East Java, some 932 chickens believed to have caught bird flu, died in 11 sub districts, since January 2009.
The 11 bird-flu affected sub districts were Tegalsari, Banyuwangi Kota, Genteng, Purwoharjo, Pesanggaran, Kalibaru, Gambiran, Glagah, Kabat, Giri, and Kalipuro, Satriyo Ariwibawa, head of the Banyuwangi animal health service, said recently.