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Tel Aviv: Israel has begun to cull 29,000 chickens suspected of contracting the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus at a collective farm outside occupied Jerusalem, an official said yesterday. The outbreak is the second in Israel this month and came days after officials said an earlier incidence of the disease at six collective farms had been contained by the culling of 1.2 million chickens and turkeys in its southern region. Dafna Yurista, a spokeswoman for Israel's Agriculture Ministry, said the poultry at the Maaleh Hahamisha farm had been quarantined and poisoned since Tuesday when initial tests showed some of the birds had contracted the virus. Israeli Agriculture Minister Zeev Boim said on Sunday that the virus had been eradicated in southern Israel and the cabinet approved a 1.2 million shekels (Dh18.7 million) compensation to the farmers.
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