The West Bengal government said that the culling operations in bird flu-hit Malda are almost over.

According to a senior district officer, over 16,000 chickens have been killed in Malda district.

While giving this information to the media persons, District magistrate Sreedhar Ghosh said that 16,963 poultry have been culled out of the target of 25,000 in English Bazar block of the district.

On Friday, nearly 27 culling teams comprising 216 personnel have fanned out in 24 villages under Narhatta and Kotwali gram panchayat of English Bazar block to complete the culling operation.

West Bengal minister of animal resources development Anisur Rehman accepted that operations were delayed in Malda but assured that situation was under control in the district.

The minister added that there were no reports of the disease spreading to the neighbouring districts.

Besides this, the minister also recommended people to continue consuming chicken and eggs in areas not affected by the bird flu. “There is no report of any human infected by the disease,” said Rehman.

From the last several months, the state government had culled over lakhs of birds in the state.