According to the health authorities, a fresh outbreak of bird flu was discovered in Hajo block of Kamrup district in Assam. Since last Saturday, over 200 birds have died in the area.  

The state authorities have ordered culling thousands of chicken and ducks.

R. C. Jain, a senior state government official said, “We were informed that the samples sent to laboratories in Bhopal and Pune have been tested positive. So we have ordered for culling in the area, which will start today.”

"It is H5N1 stain," added the official.

Earlier on Wednesday, the health authorities had imposed a ban on sale of poultry and have sounded a general alert in about 40 villages in a radius of five kilometers from the area where the deaths were reported.

Biswa Das, a resident of an affected area said that a large number of birds were falling sick. "We saw normal birds dying almost instantly without any symptoms. Now we find some of the poultry in the area a little sick," said Das.

While the state government is claiming that 100 birds had died in the block area, unconfirmed reports put the number at 200.

The last outbreak of bird flu in the country was reported in Darjeeling in West Bengal in May.