Puzzling death of chicken

Waruna Padmasiri

The Department of Livestock and Animal Husbandry has investigated the death of a large number of chickens at a farm in the Bingiriya area in the Kurunegala district. It has been found that one of the dead chickens had bird flu symptoms. However it was not confirmed that the death was caused by bird flu.

A special discussion was held at the Ministry of Health under Additional Secretary of Health P Mahipala yesterday afternoon.

Two teams of specialist doctors from the Contagious Disease Research division are scheduled to visit the Bingiriya and nearby areas today. As a precautionary step, staff at Bingiriya, Chilaw and Hettipola hospitals are being briefed about containing the spread and treatment of the disease, in accordance with the World Health Organisation guidelines.