KATHMANDU, Nepal, June 30, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Nepal is battling a surge in bird flu cases, and has slaughtered more than 596,000 poultry and shut its only zoo, agriculture ministry officials said Tuesday.

The Himalayan nation has had bird flu in previous years, but the first cases this year were reported on March 18.

Since then, government livestock officials have overseen the widespread culling of chickens and other domestic birds, and the destruction of more than a million eggs.

Umesh Dahal, director general at the Department of Livestock Services, said that cases had been recorded in 11 districts, including three in the Kathmandu Valley where the outbreak has been the most severe.

Dahal said authorities suspect the disease was being spread by crows.

"We are concerned, because crows have been found dead from infections," Dahal said. "Controlling their movement is extremely difficult, since they live in the wild."

Nepal's first outbreak of bird flu was in January 2009.

The H5 strain has caused severe disease and high death rates in poultry and wild birds worldwide. No human deaths from bird flu have been reported in Nepal.

The zoo in the capital Kathmandu was closed earlier in June for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Several birds and animals have been infected," zoo spokesperson Ganesh Koirala told AFP, saying civet cats and birds such as owls, vultures and pigeons had died.

"The zoo has been closed for an indefinite time, until the virus is under control."