Chicken deaths could be due to pesticide: Experts

Fears of onset of Bird Flu in the state are giving people the jitters in Vikarabad and Karimnagar districts. On Wednesday, reports came of mass deaths among chicken.

The dying of backyard poultry birds in Dornal village of Darrur mandal of Vikarabad district created panic and veterinary officials rushed to the village and its other surrounding areas to collect samples. The samples were sent to labs for investigation. The results will be known on Thursday.

Veterinary experts said the deaths could have been due to exposure to pesticides or contamination of water.

In Dornal, for the past one week, country chickens have been dying and 13 families have reported these incidents. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Dr M. Vasantha Kumari, district veterinary officer of Vikarabad said, “There is no reason for panic. It could be either because of pesticides or water contamination. We suspect Ranikhet disease and the lab results will give us a clear picture.”

She added: “The Biological

and Veterinary Research Institute staff will be visiting the village for an investigation. These backyard poultry birds have a lot of resistance against diseases, compared to the commercially bred poultry.”

In Chiguramidi mandal of Karimnagar district, similar deaths were reported by country chicken growers, according to veterinary doctor Kiran Reddy. “There are no traces of viral infection in the dead birds. In many cases, these chicken are reared at home and they mostly go without getting vaccinated,” Dr Kiran Reddy said.