Mysterious disease kills poultry birds in Baramulla

A mysterious disease has killed thousands of poultry birds in this district.
The disease being reported for past several days has made authorities concerned as a large number of poultry birds have died at a single poultry farm in Amargarh area in this district on Sunday.
Though authorities here claim that birds could have died due Ranikhet Disease ( RKD), they did not rule out the possibility of some other disease also.
“We have dispatched a team of officials to Amargarh Sopore to ascertain the cause of death among the poultry birds. We can confirm the cause only after carrying some investigation which includes autopsy of the birds. Symptoms among the affected poultry birds suggest that disease can be Ranikhet,” Dr Muhammad Shafi, Chief Animal Husbandry Officer Baramulla, said.
Reports of sudden deaths among the poultry are coming from different parts of the district. “I lost 214 birds in a single day on Saturday. I don’t know the cause of death nor the department has as yet revealed it. There is panic among the people associated with this business,” Wajid Ahmad of Pattan Baramulla, said.
The poultry business in this district has grown phenomenally in past some years. As per official figures, around 30,000 people in the district are associated with this business.
There are around 510 poultry farms registered with the department while around 150 unregistered farms are also operating in the district.