Bird flu decimates chicken coops in Iraq

SAMARRA: An outbreak of bird flu has killed tens of thousands of hens in a rural province north of Iraq’s capital, decimating livelihoods overnight as authorities scramble to contain its spread. Near the town of Samarra, about 100 kilometres north of Baghdad, Haytham al Hamash’s coops have become graveyards. Masked workers step around a few live hens to pick out the dead birds lying on their sides, tossing them into the back of a truck with a loud thud. “Right now, chickens are dying and we can’t do anything for them’’, Hamash said. His coops have been surrounded by makeshift trenches to keep infected chickens from escaping, as veterinarians in white suits examine the remaining flock. The outbreak of avian influenza in the northern province of Salahaddin began on Thursday. By Friday, at least 60,000 chickens had contracted it, the governor announced. But Samarra’s chicken farmers say their losses have been much higher. “We lost nearly 190,000 chickens’’, Hamash said. Another farmer, Fuad Barhan, claimed authorities had not been able to support all the coops. — AFP