The state government has said culling operations in bird flu-hit Malda are almost over. More than 16,000 chickens had been killed till Thursday night.

“We are yet to receive culling figures of Friday, but we expect the operations will be completed by Friday. The mopping operations may be taken up from Saturday,” District Magistrate Sridhar Ghosh said.

Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rehman said the target of culling nearly 25,000 birds could not be achieved on Friday. He admitted that operations were delayed in Malda but assured that situation was under control in the district.

The government has been fighting the disease since January and lakhs of birds have been culled over several months. The minister asked the citizens to “learn to live with the disease, and treat it at par with malaria”.

Rahman added that there were no reports of the disease spreading to the neighbouring districts and advised people to continue consuming chicken and eggs in areas not affected by the bird flu. “There is no report of any human infected by the disease,” he said.

A two-member team of the National Institute of Communicable Disease comprising Ramesh Agarwal and Jagbir Singh has reached Malda, Ghosh said.

“They have not shared their itinerary with me but they have been travelling in the affected areas to take stock of the situation,” said the DM.

Twenty-seven culling teams, comprising 216 personnel, have been deployed in 24 villages under Narhatta and Kotwali gram panchayat of the English Bazar Block.