By DPA
Islamabad : Authorities have culled more than 6,000 birds to control a new outbreak of avian flu at three poultry farms in this Pakistani capital, an official said Wednesday.
Laboratory tests confirmed the presence of H5N1, a strain of avian influenza that is deadly in humans, at three farms in Chak Shehzad, where about 12,000 birds died mysteriously this week, said Mohammad Afzal, spokesman of the Agriculture and Livestock Ministry.
There were no reports of human infections, but all the remaining 6,000 birds on the farms were culled as a precautionary measure.
Afzal ruled out the presence of the virus in other parts of the country.
There have been 23 outbreaks of H5N1 in birds in Pakistan this year, but these have been quickly controlled. At least 185 people in 11 other Asian and African countries have died after contracting the deadly H5N1 virus.