Culling operations of chickens in poultry farms in bird flu-hit Navapur continue and around 80,000 birds are expected to be culled Tuesday, State Animal Husbandry Department Commissioner Dr Vijay Kumar said.

• Bird Flu Hits India

"Till Monday, a total of 1,12,942 chickens have been culled, with 73,627 birds culled Monday alone," he said.

The culled birds are buried in pits with lime, potassium permanganate and ordinary salt for creating aseptic conditions, he said.

"We have also asked 20 gram panchayats and Navapur town authorities to cover the backyard poultry farms," he said.

"We had a meeting with forest officials in Navapur and requested them to prevent wild birds from thronging the affected area," he said.

Besides, "we are sanitising all the farm premises in addition to fogging and that is our priority", Kumar said.

In the town and other surrounding areas, the local self governance authorities inclduing zilla parishads are spraying disinfectants and engaged in fogging operations, he added.