Mozambique orders culling of 45,000 chickens with bird flu

By XINHUA

MAPUTO, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) — Mozambican authorities have ordered the slaughter and burial of more than 45,000 hens infected with bird flu in Morrumbene, in the country’s southern Inhambane province, Radio Mozambique reported. National Director of Livestock Development Americo da Conceicao was quoted as saying that the chickens were infected by the avian influenza that broke out in neighboring South Africa. “We appeal to poultry farmers to take biosafety measures in their production units,” Radio Mozambique quoted him as saying Thursday. Conceicao said that the culling would result in a monthly loss of about 13 million meticais (190,000 U.S. dollars). “The Mozambican government saw the need to ban the import of South African domestic and wild birds, to contain the spread of this poultry disease in Mozambique,” he said. The latest outbreak has led to a shortage and higher prices of eggs for consumption and hatching. Enditem