At least 8,500 chicken will be culled on Thursday at Balurghat town in Dinajpur district of West Bengal.

District Magistrate (DM) Swapan Kumar Chatterjee said 49 teams, comprising 300 medical personnel and veterinary doctors, would supervise the culling process.

Central veterinary department assistant commissioner Sujit Dutta had also arrived from New Delhi to monitor the operations.

Besides, another 18,000 chicken will be culled at the areas bordering Bangladesh during the next two days, the DM said, adding altogether 1,440 chicken had been killed.

As a precautionary measure against the spread of the disease, the state government had also banned sale of chicken and poultry products for three months in the affected areas.

The measure was taken after the Centre announced outbreak of bird flu in certain blocks of Birbhum and South Dinajpur districts.

A strict vigil was being maintained along the international border with Bangladesh, where bird flu broke out last year, so that there was no movement of chickens or any other birds.

More than 36,000 chicken died of bird flu over the past few weeks at Margram village in Birbhum district and at Balurghat.