Bhubaneswar, Feb 6 (PTI) Around 15,000 fowls were killed on the second day of the culling process in the state capital after detection of avian influenza at a central government owned poultry farm, officials said. Members of the Rapid Response Teams, set up for undertaking culling process, had no problem culling the birds at the Central Poultry Development Organisation (CPDO) and at a farm of the state run Orissa University of Agriculture University. However, they faced a tough time persuading people in different slums within three kilometre radius of the CPDO, considered the origin of the outbreak here, they said. "In slums, the people are not cooperating at all," said one of the members of the culling team. Culling in slums could take a lot of time as people need to be persuaded before getting their birds, he said. While Rs 30 was being given as compensation per chick, the price of an adult bird was Rs 70 and cost of an egg had been fixed at Rs two, the sources said. Besides two government farms, culling would be conducted in 29 urban wards of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation. The avian flu outbreak was reported at the CDPO farm after culling took place at Keranga in Khurda district and Betanati in Mayurbhanj district last month, according to Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Secretary Satyabrata Sahu.
