Amid crow deaths due to bird flu, 4,200 chicks found dead in Latur district

Nearly 4,200 chicks were found dead in a poultry farm in Maharashtra's Latur district, days after about 60 crows succumbed to bird flu, an official said on Thursday. The five-to-six-day-old birds died in the Dhalegaon village, Ahmedpur tehsil, and samples of the carcasses have been sent to the State Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Aundh, Pune, on Wednesday, he said.

Deputy Commissioner for Animal Husbandry Dr Shridhar Shinde said their team had visited the site.

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Officials said the baby chickens died over two to three days. The poultry farm owner did not immediately alert the authorities about the deaths, which caused the infection to spread and kill 4,200 of the 4,500 chicks he had bought, they said.

Dr Shivaji Kshirsagar, deputy commissioner of the Ahmedpur veterinary hospital, has appealed to owners to get their poultry farms registered and keep the local officials informed in case of such incidents.

Earlier this month, nearly 60 crows were found dead in Udgir city in the district. Tests by the Pune-based Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory and the ICAR - National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal, confirmed that bird flu was the cause of the deaths, officials had said.