170 peacocks killed due to contagious disease in Pakistan

New Delhi: Pakistan's local media has reported the death of around 170 peacocks due to an avian disease in the country's Tharparkar region.

Confirming the death toll, Tharparkar's honorary district game warden Talook Chand Valasai said that various parts of the desert witnessed at least 30 bird deaths during the last couple of days.

Local experts and natives fear that it might be an onset of the Newcastle disease, locally known as Ranikhet, a contagious avian disease, Dawn reported.

Abdul Majeed Junejo, chairman of Joru union council near Mithi, told the local journalists that during past couple of weeks, more than 30 peafowls have died of disease.

"The neck of the birds swell up after contracting the infection, after which they eventually collapse and die," Junejo added, saying there were plenty of birds who are ailing and are in a need of treatment.

He said that he, along with locals, has time and again requested the wildlife department to visit the area and determine what was causing the sudden deaths of the birds but to no avail.

Ashfaque Ahmed Memon, an official at the wildlife department, said that despite a shortage of staff in the vast desert region, teams were being sent to villages to collect samples of dead birds as well as vaccinate the sick peafowls. He added that four additional teams had been formed on an emergency basis to vaccinate the ailing birds.

(With IANS inputs)