Parbhani: As many as 900 hens were reportedly found dead at a poultry farm in Murumba village in Parbhani district of Maharashtra.

Their samples have been sent for investigation on Saturday to identify the precise cause of the death, Parbhani district collector Deepak Mulgikar told PTI. He said, “900 hens have died in two consecutive days in Murumba village in the Marathwada region. We have taken the samples of the dead birds for investigation.”

The Collector stated that the poultry farm where the death of birds was reported is run by a Self Help Group (SHG). "This poultry farm has some 8,000 birds. 900 birds have died over two days. No death of birds was reported in the last 24 hours," he said.

Meanwhile, the samples of dead crows from Mumbai, Thane, Parbhani and Beed districts were sent to Bhopal-based ICAR-National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (ICAR-NIHSAD), the government informed. It also informed that the confirmation of bird flu in states such as Maharashtra, Delhi is awaited as the samples have been sent for testing.

The central government on Saturday said the outburst of bird flu or avian influenza has now reported in Uttar Pradesh, taking the toll of affected states to seven. Apart from Uttar Pradesh, the other six states where bird flu is confirmed are, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat.

States have been requested to increase surveillance around water bodies, bird markets, zoos and poultry farms. It also urged to safeguard proper disposal of carcass and firming of bio-security in poultry farms.