KARACHI, March 1: Pakistan has completed the slaughter of 25,000 chickens at two poultry farms in the NWFP after a mild bird flu strain was detected in flocks there, officials told AFP on Wednesday.

Pakistan has sent poultry samples for testing at the European Union’s Reference Laboratory in Weybridge, England, and results were expected in a couple of days, they said.

“Culling of the birds has now been completed and the destroyed birds are being dumped into deep pits under strict protective measures,” Rana Mohammad Akhlaq, deputy livestock commissioner at the ministry of agriculture said.

Some eight poultry workers had been quarantined, he said.

“We have also quarantined even the police officials who were deployed to cordon off the affected farms in the two towns,” Mr Akhlaq said.

Domestic poultry industry has suffered by low demand and prices of chicken and eggs have plummeted as bird flu reports scared off some consumers.

“We are faced with depressed market and the prices have fallen by 30-35 per cent as the virus hype has gripped the people,” said Raza Mahmood Khursand, chairman of the Pakistan Poultry Association.

But livestock officials said there were no reports of bird flu outbreaks in any other part of the country.

The transport of poultry products between provinces had not been restricted, Mr Akhlaq told AFP.

Our Taxila correspondent adds: Scores of poultry shops in Taxila and adjacent areas closed down on Wednesday following reports of presence of bird flu virus in poultry farms in the NWFP. The Hazara area is a major supplier of poultry products to the local market here.

Our Gilgit correspondent adds: The Northern Areas’ administration imposed a ban on poultry products from down country areas by establishing a barrier in Basari.