KATHMANDU (TIP): The spread of bird flu over the past 15 days has forced the Nepalese government to ban the movement of poultry products in the Kathmandu valley. The ban, which came into effect on Thursday, will last for a week and the situation will be further assessed after that, according to Dr Vijay Kanta Jha of the Directorate of Animal Health. “So far 33,300 chickens have been culled in the Kathmandu valley,” Dr Jha said, adding that the spread of the H5N1 virus was yet to be brought under control.

For the past two weeks, chickens have been culled each day in 21 poultry farms on the city’s outskirts. The ban essentially means no poultry products will be available for sale in the capital, since there will be no supply. No similar restriction has been placed in the rest of the country.