Kashmiri Authorities ban poultry imports from the rest of country

Authorities in India's part of Kashmir on Monday banned the import of poultry from the rest of the country after an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in western India.

Photo: Kashmiri Authorities ban poultry imports from the rest of country

No bird flu infections have been reported in Jammu-Kashmir, said the state's animal husbandry minister, Taj Mohi-ud-Din.

"As a precaution, the government has banned the import of poultry birds from other states for the next 10 days," he said.

The state government set up a task force to enforce the import ban, and quarantine measures were put in place at all entry points into the state, the minister said.

The disease has ravaged the western Indian state of Maharashtra, where more than 200,000 chickens were culled after the H5N1 strain of bird flu was found in some of 30,000 dead chickens. The government has said it plans to slaughter some 500,000 birds within a 3-kilometer (2-mile) radius of the outbreak, reports the AP.

I.L.