The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou will cull another 10,000 domestic fowls, following the outbreak of the deadly H5N1-type bird flu among ducks, local officials said today.
At least 36,130 ducks have been culled as of September 17 after a subtype H5N1 bird flu strain killed some 9,830 ducks raised in Guangzhou City since September_5, the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory confirmed.
The Panyu district government in Guangzhou City announced yesterday that all the 10,000 domestic fowls in the bird flu infected area in Sixian Village will be culled.
Compulsory vaccination and disinfection will be carried out within a radius of five square kilometres and all poultry markets within a 13-metre-radius surveillance zone will be closed.
The local government has pledged to compensate farmers for their economic losses, the amount of compensation will be decided soon.
More than 50 poultry farmers in the village are taking blood tests and medical checkups. A headquarters has been established to take charge of bird flu outbreak control and prevention, Xinhua news agency quoted officials from the local agricultural bureau as saying.
Six supervision teams have been dispatched to different regions in Guangzhou, helping to enforce vaccination on all domestic fowls in the city as of next Tuesday, local officials said.
As world’s largest producer of poultry, livestock and aquatic products, China suffers an estimated economic loss of USD 5.30 billion from outbreaks of animal diseases annually.