06.01.2012

Officials in Bhutan have culled 395 chickens and destroyed 447 eggs after an avian influenza outbreak in Tsimasham in Chukha district. On Dec 30 and 31, 87 birds died on a backyard farm, and authorities culled birds on that and nearby farms Jan 4 and 5 after Bhutan's national center for animal health confirmed avian influenza. The story, which said local officials were awaiting official confirmation from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), did not specify the strain of avian influenza. Bhutan's last H5N1 avian influenza outbreak was in the same district in February 2010 (Kuensel Online news).