18887 Chandigarh, January 20 Three samples from two Dera Bassi poultry farms have tested positive for bird flu strain H5N8. The Department of Animal Husbandry has started preparations for initiating a culling drive at the infected poultry farms tomorrow. The National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal, has confirmed the presence of H5N8 virus strain in the samples. H5N8 strain It’s highly lethal for wild birds and poultry Till date, no human case of H5N8 infection has been detected The samples were from Alpha Poultry Farm having 55,000 birds and Royal Poultry Farm having 60,000 birds at Behra village in Dera Bassi. A sample taken from a dead crow at Balongi (Mohali) has also tested positive for H5N8 strain.