Over 6,000 ducks die of blood poisoning in Burma
BURMA - A total of 6,700 ducks in a village in Myanmar have died of blood poisoning, the local Myanmar Times reported in its latest issue.
8 February 2005
3 minute read
The death of these ducks at Katoke-Phayagi village in Daik-U township of Bago division late last month was due mainly to failure to vaccinate the birds against septicemia, the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department was quoted as saying.
However, the disease stopped spreading after nearly 6,000 other ducks were vaccinated in a five-kilometer radius around the affected area, livestock officials said, adding that 5,000 more ducks in the area are planned for same treatment.
Meanwhile, the department has stepped up an educational campaign targeting chicken farms as part of its precaution againstpossible outbreak of bird flu during the cool season.
The authorities confirmed that Myanmar continued to remain freeof bird flu, saying that the country has little potential to be affected, partly because chickens were kept in a condition not as crowded as in other countries.
Since the outbreak of bird-flu was reported in neighboring countries in January last year, Myanmar has checked about 8.5 million chickens at nearly 8,000 poultry farms across the country as part of its measures to prevent the possible outbreak of bird-flu.
There are 63 million chickens in Myanmar, of which 50 million are bred outdoor in rural areas, official statistics show.
