DHAKA, May 8 (Reuters) - Bangladesh has culled about 25,000 more chickens over the past four days as bird flu spread to eight additional farms, officials said on Tuesday. One of the newly infected farms is in the Mirpur area of the capital Dhaka, while six were in Dhaka district, which surrounds the capital more than 10 million people. The eighth affected farm is in Magura district, 200 km (125 miles) southwest of the capital. "So far, nearly 132,000 chickens have been culled in 52 farms in 10 districts," a statement from the fisheries and livestock ministry said. More than 200,000 eggs have also been destroyed in the past four days and more than 1.3 million since March 22. The H5N1 virus was first detected at six farms at Savar near Dhaka on March 22 and the virus has continued to spread across the country. There have been no cases of human infection. "We are struggling day and night to contain the disease, but it has continued to spread," a senior ministry official said. He said efforts by veterinary and health officials had prevented bird flu spreading through all of the country's 64 districts. Authorities have pledged to pay 70 taka (nearly US$1) for each culled bird. C.S. Karim, adviser to the interim government and head of the fisheries and livestock ministry said on Monday all affected farms would be given money to restart their businesses. Indian authorities were testing dead poultry for bird flu in an eastern state after more than 3,000 birds were found dead, officials said on Tuesday. The dead chickens were found over the past two days at poultry farms in remote Matigara village in West Bengal, close to the border with Bangladesh.
