Nearly 30 villages and hamlets fall within the newly affected zones. (File Photo) The H5N1 avian influenza outbreak in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar district widened on Thursday after three more poultry farms in Navapur tested positive for bird flu, prompting authorities to expand containment operations and int ensify culling measures that could push the number of birds culled past four lakh. Officials identified Palawala, Sakisma and Ashraf Poultry farms as fresh infection clusters. All three farms are located within a 3-km radius of Diamond Poultry farm, where bird flu was first confirmed on April 30. “With these new positive samples, we will now create separate containment circles around each of the three farms. These locations were earlier under surveillance zones, but will now undergo active culling operations,” said Dr Sanjay Kachane, Deputy Commissioner, Animal Husbandry and Dairy, Nandurbar. As per protocol, all poultry farms within a 1-km radius of the newly infected farms will undergo culling.…