Thousands of chickens and other birds have died along the western Burma border over the last 10 days, but authorities have not yet announced the reason behind the deaths.
"An official team led by Maungdaw Township Chairman U Tin Own went on Wednesday to Bagon Na Village to investigate the death of over 100 chickens in an outbreak of an all together unknown disease," an official from Maungdaw said.
Bagon Na Village is located on the outskirts of the town of Maungdaw. Veterinarians on the team brought some of the chickens that died at the poultry farm to Maungdaw to send them to Rangoon for preliminary tests.
A retired police officer from Wima La Ward said, "The deaths of chickens and birds in Maungdaw Township have increased recently. This is not just an outbreak in a rural area but has also happened in downtown Maungdaw. Many chickens, crows, and other kind of birds are dying in our town."
The worst hit areas are rural areas of Maungdaw Township, where large numbers of birds are dying on a daily basis.
Many people are now avoiding eating chicken or eggs, even though there has been no official alert about the disease in Maungdaw.
"People in Maungdaw are not eating chicken or eggs at present, nor are they going to the chicken markets because they are worried about the disease infecting people," a hostess said.
Many townspeople are anxious about the death of the chickens and other birds, and are concerned that it is due to an outbreak of bird flu, possibly the H5N1 strain.
There has not been such an outbreak or occurrence of chicken deaths prior to this.
"It is very rare and such an incident has never happened in Maungdaw before. I heard thousands of chickens and birds died in Maungdaw Township after being infected by the disease from chickens that were brought from Rangoon to Maungdaw by FAO, a non-profit organization," the retired police officer added.
FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization, has distributed many chickens that were brought from Rangoon to widows and poor families in Maungdaw Township. After the chickens were distributed, thousands of birds and chickens began dying in the township along the border.
