Chitwan, March 23

Veterinary Hospital and Livestock Service Experts Centre Chitwan today dismissed rumours of bird flu outbreak Chitwan district.

The office said people could use poultry products without any fear as no bird flu case was detected in the district.

The office said so issuing a statement after a ban was imposed on the import of chicken and poultry products in several districts across the country.

Centre chief Dr Bijaya Kumar Shrestha said although bird flu (H5N1) cases had been reported in Makwanpur, Kathmandu and Pokhara, not even a single case of the flu was detected in  Chitwan.

“Bird flu has been reported in neighbouring districts. However, Chitwan, which is the largest producer of poultry products, is safe,” he said.

According to him, bid flu was not detected in Chitwan as farmers in the district had become aware.

The centre has been regularly collecting samples, testing them in laboratory and sending suspected samples for further testing to the Central Laboratory.

The farmers also bring the dead chickens to the centre for testing. The centre has been collecting samples from chicken at weekly markets.

More than five million eggs and 850 thousand kilos of chicken is produced daily in Nepal.

Similarly, 2.7 million chicks of Broiler variety and 300 thousand chicks of Layers is produced.

One hundred and 80 thousand people are directly employed in poultry business which contributes four per cent of the GDP.

According to people involved in this business, Rs 100 billion is invested in the poultry business across the country.