Culling of 6,637 chickens began in 23 villages of Madhya Pradesh Wednesday after the detection of bird flu in poultry samples in Ichhapur town, Burhanpur district, a senior official said.

The culled birds were being disposed of in 18 pits dug across five quarantine zones within 10 km radius of Ichhapur, state Veterinary Services Commissioner Rajesh Rajora told PTI.

The administration had recorded 716 birds in six villages falling under the alert zone (three km radius of site of infection) and 5,921 chicken in 17 villages of the surveillance zone (10 km radius of Ichhapur), sources said.

• Bird Flu Hits India

Bird owners will be given compensation of Rs 40 per broiler, Rs 30 per layer and Rs 10 per chick, they added.

Around 112 veterinary department staff, including 23 Rapid Reponse Teams comprising cullers, doctors and handlers, were engaged in the entire operation, equipped with adequate preventive gear, Rajora said adding, the staff was adminstered Tamiflu to prevent spread of infection among them.

The teams will cull, clean and mop, following which a drive to disinfect the area and 2,300 houses will be carried out for around eight days, he said.

Vaccinations will not be carried out in the area as birds in both alert and surveillance zones were being culled, he said.

While the Madhya Pradesh government was carrying out culling operation in 23 villages around Ichhapur, Maharashtra government will cull the birds in 28 villages falling under the 10 km radius of the affected area Thursday.