A fresh outbreak of bird flu was reported in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district Thursday, prompting the authorities to immediately start a culling drive in the area.

“Five teams will start the culling operations. At least 20 more teams will be pressed into action from Friday in an almost three-kilometre radius of Hazrabati and Nagar areas of Khargram block.

“We hope to finish the culling drive in two-three days,” Murshidabad district magistrate Parwez Ahmad Siddiqui said.

He said: “We had sent two dead birds’ serum samples to the Bhopal lab for bird flu testing, on the basis of which we got confirmation about the bird flu outbreak in our district.”

According to officials, three isolation wards have been opened at the Khargram block primary health centre, Nabagram block primary health centre and Kandi sub-divisional hospital to treat bird flu infections.