Following news of bird flu outbreak in a poultry farm in West Bengal's Darjeeling, Bhutan is mulling a ban on import of chicken meat and eggs from India.
However, Bhutan officials have confirmed that first they were trying to confirm the news. According to reports, around 5,000 chicken perished due to bird flu in a poultry farm in West Bengal.
There will be a total ban on imports immediately if the news is confirmed, said Bhutan's director of the livestock department Tenzin Dhendup. But as of now the import is on.
The department has already sent a veterinary doctor and a Bhutan agriculture food and regulatory authority official to Matigara in Darjeeling district where the farm is located.
Arambagh in India is the sole supplier of dressed chickens to Bhutan and there are five suppliers for eggs. Bhutan had imposed an indefinite ban on the import of poultry and related products from India in mid-February last year following the outbreak of H5N1 virus in poultry in Maharashtra.
