BANEPA, Aug 12: Bird flu virus has been confirmed for the first time in Kavrepalanchowk district. The H5N1 virus was found in the parent stock, the chickens kept for breeding, at two hatcheries based in Sanga VDC ward number 2 and Ugratara Janagal VDC ward number 4 respectively in the district.
Parent stock at Ashapuri Hatchery Breeder Firm at Ugratara Janagal-4, which is owned by first vice chair of first vice president of Nepal Poultry Federation Narayan Hari Khatri has been found infected by the bird flu virus. [break]
The rapid response team from Kathmandu culled 10,323 parent chickens and destroyed 28,957 hatchable eggs and 1,450 kg of poultry feed.
The member secretary at Bird Flu Control Technical Committee in Kavrepalanchowk, Dr Samjhana Kafle, suspected that the hatchery owner might have shifted fowls to hide them in his Kavre farm after bird flu virus was found in his other hatchery in Bhaktapur.
Dr Kafle also informed that District Veterinary Office (DVO) has been investigating to confirm if the hatchery owner really shifted the infected fowls from Bhaktapur to Kavrepalanchowk. Just on Sunday night, the committee had destroyed 1,600 chickens of The Ashapuri Hatchery that were being transported to Dolakha hidden in a jeep.
Similarly, the bird flu virus has also been found in the parent stock at Nepal Hatchery at Nasikasthan in Sanga VDC-6. The rapid response team has killed 5,125 adult chicken, and destroyed 6,400 hatchable eggs and 550 kg of breeder feed in the first phase Monday. The team informed that it will cull the rest of the chicken Tuesday.
According to the DVO, 150 poultry farms and 8 hatcheries are currently in operation in Kavrepalanchowk. With the confirmation of the bird flu virus in the district, the whole poultry industry in the district is at risk, according to the veterinarians.
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