Bird flu halts chicken sales in Nepal

Selling chickens in Nepal has been temporarily suspended after health workers found cases of bird flu at several poultry farms on the outskirts of the capital Kathmandu.

The government has imposed a week-long ban on the supply and sale of poultry products to prevent the H5N1 virus from spreading to humans, officials at Kathmandu District Animal Health Office have said.

Authorities may extend the ban unless the virus is under control within a week. Security forces have been deployed in markets to enforce the restrictions.

Bijay Kant Jha, head of the Directorate of Animal Health, says health workers have culled 20,000 chickens and destroyed more than 12,000 eggs at 30 affected farms since the latest outbreak of bird flu two weeks ago.