<p> As many as 764 poultry birds will be culled in Hingoli district of Maharashtra on Saturday to check the spread of bird flu, an official said on Friday.</p>.<p>The decision has been taken by the animal husbandry department after samples of dead poultry birds sent from Pimpri Khurd, a village located 50km from Hingoli city, to a lab in Bhopal tested positive for avian influenza, he said.</p>.<p>The administration has declared a prohibited zone in the village and poultry birds, raised in backyard by households, in the area will be culled, the animal husbandry department official told PTI.</p>.<p>Twenty four hens in Pimpri Khurd died on January 16 followed by five more later, he said.</p>.<p>Their samples were sent to the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal, for analysis.</p>.<p>"Reports of birds which died in Pimpri Khurd are positive for the bird flu infection. A total of 764 birds were found in the infected zone in our survey.</p>.<p>"Culling of these birds will be undertaken on Saturday. These are all household birds," he said.</p>.<p>The process of culling consists of digging pits and laying a layer of calcium carbonate on its base. Then the cervical dislocation of the birds is done.</p>.<p>Birds are kept in the pit with one more layer of calcium carbonate over them and then they are buried, another official had explained earlier.</p>.<p>Nine poultry birds from another village, Krushnapur, located near Pimpri Khurd, were found dead on Thursday, a second official said.</p>.<p>Their samples have been sent for lab analysis and reports are awaited, he said.</p>
<p> As many as 764 poultry birds will be culled in Hingoli district of Maharashtra on Saturday to check the spread of bird flu, an official said on Friday.</p>.<p>The decision has been taken by the animal husbandry department after samples of dead poultry birds sent from Pimpri Khurd, a village located 50km from Hingoli city, to a lab in Bhopal tested positive for avian influenza, he said.</p>.<p>The administration has declared a prohibited zone in the village and poultry birds, raised in backyard by households, in the area will be culled, the animal husbandry department official told PTI.</p>.<p>Twenty four hens in Pimpri Khurd died on January 16 followed by five more later, he said.</p>.<p>Their samples were sent to the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal, for analysis.</p>.<p>"Reports of birds which died in Pimpri Khurd are positive for the bird flu infection. A total of 764 birds were found in the infected zone in our survey.</p>.<p>"Culling of these birds will be undertaken on Saturday. These are all household birds," he said.</p>.<p>The process of culling consists of digging pits and laying a layer of calcium carbonate on its base. Then the cervical dislocation of the birds is done.</p>.<p>Birds are kept in the pit with one more layer of calcium carbonate over them and then they are buried, another official had explained earlier.</p>.<p>Nine poultry birds from another village, Krushnapur, located near Pimpri Khurd, were found dead on Thursday, a second official said.</p>.<p>Their samples have been sent for lab analysis and reports are awaited, he said.</p>