March 28, 2006	Tuesday	Safar 27, 1427

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ABBOTTABAD, March 27: Police sealed a poultry farm in the Berot Union Council after receiving reports about the mysterious death of at least 800 chickens here on Sunday.

The poultry farm where the birds were found dead is located between Murree and Muzaffarabad. The Abbottabad district government has dispatched an investigation team to the area to find out the cause of the death of the chickens.

District Coordination Officer (DCO) Abbottabad Naseem Khan told journalists that they had dispatched a team comprising EDO Health, EDO Agriculture and Dr Ayaz of livestock department to investigate the matter.

He said that the team would submit its report on Monday evening and action would be taken in the light of the report.

SSP Abbottabad Iftikhar Khan said that after being informed by the guard of a poultry farm owned by M. Riaz that a large number of chickens had died mysteriously. He said that the crows and dogs, which had apparently eaten the dead chickens, had also been found dead outside the farm.

They immediately brought the issue into the notice of the secretary of livestock department and dispatched a team to seal the poultry farm, he added.

He said that they had taken precautionary measures and stopped sale of chickens and eggs and culled birds.

Dr Ayaz, research officer, livestock department, Abbottabad, who is one of the members of the investigation team, said that the problem existed there as the mortality ratio of the birds was unusual.

He said that they had taken precautionary measures and disposed of all the birds. He said that specimen of these birds were sent to the laboratory for investigation.

So far, the government and the local administration had failed to take any safety measure against the problem and the poultry owners continued selling their chickens in market despite the fact that the World Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza in England had endorsed the presence of deadly H5N1 virus at two farms, one in Charsadda and one in Abbottabad.