Badaun (UP), Feb 15 (PTI) A sample from a chicken shop in Bilsi tehsil here tested positive for bird flu following which the sale of chicken has been banned in a 10-kilometre radius, officials said on Monday.

Samples are also being collected from chicken shops and poultry farms in a kilometer radius for testing, Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Bilsi Rahdey Shyam Bahadur Singh said.

"Sampling by the veterinary department was done in a chicken shop in Shadab on February 4, along with other shops. The samples were sent to IVRI, Bareilly. Subsequently, one tested positive for bird flu," he said.

"Sanitisation of chicken shops and poultry farms is being done in a 10-km radius and the sale of chicken has been stopped with immediate effect, he said.

A report in this regard has been sent to the Centre.

Nearly a dozen states have reported cases of avian influenza since December.

Early this month, Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey told Lok Sabha there are no laboratory-confirmed human cases of avian influenza reported in the country.

Choubey said the strains detected so far in the birds are H5N1 and H5N8.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)