Bacterial infection, not bird flu, in Kozhikode

Veterinarians say it is due to bacterial infection

The death of over 300 chicken at a poultry farm in Koorachund in Kozhikode district recently was due to a bacterial infection and not bird flu, said officials at the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services here. The district administration had sounded an alert in 11 grama panchayats on Friday after one of the samples sent to two labs in the State for testing turned positive for bird flu. The samples were later sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, for confirmation, said an official. “The samples had given indications about the possibility of pasteurellosis, a bacterial infection. But, earlier, we were not sure if the infection was a secondary impact of bird flu, a viral infection. The tests done in Bhopal have confirmed that the cases were indeed bacterial infections,” K.K. Baby, a senior official with the department, told The Hindu.