BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - Authorities in Odisha will start culling chickens and destroying eggs from Tuesday to contain a bird flu virus of the H5N1 strain, a government statement said on Monday.

The samples collected from a poultry breeding and research farm of a veterinary college in Odisha tested positive, the statement said.

India has seen nearly half a dozen outbreaks of bird flu in poultry in past two decades, and all of which were brought under control. No human cases have been reported in India since at least 2003.