Bird flu: Sale of native chickens at fairs stopped in Chikkaballapur, samples collected

CHIKKABALLAPUR: After the outbreak of bird flu was confirmed at Varadahalli in the district and culling of birds was taken up, the police on Monday prevented farmers from selling native chickens at fairs and sent them back.

Sale of native chickens is a major affair in the district, especially at the Chintamani fair. Villagers from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh visit Chintamani and sell native chicken at the fairs. On Monday, veterinary officials also collected samples of native chickens for testing.

At Peresandra, the police and the veterinary officials stopped villagers coming to the fair from Andhra Pradesh for selling native chickens and sent them back. As a precautionary measure, sale of native chickens has been stopped.