AMARAVATI, 5 FEB

Nearly four lakh chickens perished in West Godavari of Andhra Pradesh and vicinity over the past 45 days, prompting the Animal Husbandry Department to send samples for testing to ascertain the cause, said an official on Wednesday.

Animal Husbandry Department director Damodar Naidu said samples were sent to a high security lab in Bhopal and also Vijayawada for confirming the disease causing these deaths.

"There is mortality but not to the extent claimed by the farmers. Farmers are also neglecting biosecurity measures, which is the main reason for the spread of diseases," Naidu told PTI.

Some farmers dumped dead birds in the canals and on garbage dumps in the streets, leading to the spread of the infection, he said, adding that basic precaution was neglected, resulting in the deaths of the fowls.

According to the animal husbandry official, usually, this phenomenon is seasonal and manifests every year, however, due to higher numbers of migratory birds coupled with the negligence of poultry farmers, number of deaths has gone up.

Among other causes, Animal Husbandry officials are suspecting the role of an avian influenza which has to be confirmed by the Bhopal laboratory.

Incidentally, there is a vaccine for low pathogenic strain of avian influenza but not for high pathogenic strains and any viral outbreak, especially in flock management, where hundreds of birds are reared together, individual attention cannot be extended.