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**HenryN** · January 14, 2008, 05:31 PM

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01140802/H5N1_West_Bengal_Confirmed.html

Recombinomics Commentary

**Treyfish** · January 14, 2008, 06:03 PM

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

Culling begins in Bengal

Kolkata, January 15, 2008
First Published: 02:16 IST(15/1/2008)
Last Updated: 02:19 IST(15/1/2008)

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Culling of thousands of chickens began in West Bengal on Monday after preliminary tests on dead poultry indicated they had bird flu. Unconfirmed reports said more than 50,000 poultry died showing bird flu symptoms in many farms run by state government-sponsored self-help groups.
?Bird samples were sent for testing to the High Security Animal Testing Laboratory in Bhopal and the National Institute of Virology in Pune on Sunday and the results confirming whether it is the H5 strain are expected by Tuesday or Wednesday. The sequencing of the N1 component will take longer,? said Dr Shiv Lal, director, National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi.
Two NICD experts have reached Margram village in the Rampurhat area of Birbhum district, where most of the birds have died with indications that they were affected by the dreaded disease. Besides, the state's health department has sent 110 veterinary doctors to the spot.
?About 18,300 poultry birds have died during the last six days in the two gram panchayat areas of Rampurhat,? said state Animal Resource Development Minister Anisur Rehman. He, however, said there is no confirmation that the poultry died due to bird flu.
The minister said the state government had instructed all poultry farms to keep a strict vigil. Sale of poultry has been banned in the affected areas of Rampurhat I and II blocks. The Indo-Bangladesh border has been sealed to ensure that no poultry or related products enter the state from Bangladesh.
A senior official of the Birbhum district administration said, ?There might be every possibility of the bird flu infection spreading among local people who either ate affected chickens or came into close contact with the affected birds during the past week.? A senior official of the state?s health department said that about 4,000 Tamiflu tablets were sent to the village where thousands of poultry birds are dying with symptoms of drowsiness and malfunctioning lungs.
India has been on high alert ever since bird flu was detected in neighbouring Bangladesh in December. New Delhi has banned poultry trade with bird flu-hit countries such as China, Bangladesh and Myanmar but people continue to smuggle poultry across the borders. ?It is a difficult and very porous border, but we have measures in place that have been further tightened,? said an official of the Union Animal Husbandry Department.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryP...gins+in+Bengal

**Treyfish** · January 14, 2008, 06:39 PM

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

Bird flu alert in West Bengal district
Suri (WB), Jan 14: The death of thousands of home-bred chickens in Birbhum region over the past one week has prompted district authorities to sound a bird flu alert in two blocks.
District Magistrate Tapan Kumar Shome today said ?all departments concerned have been alerted. The villagers have been asked not to sell or buy chicken.
They have also been asked to wear masks and cover their hands and legs while feeding birds.? Though neither the district administration nor the veterenary department confirmed an outbreak of birdflu, a preliminary report from the High Security Animal Husbandry Laboratory in Bhopal has apparently confirmed the disease affecting poultry there, official sources said.
N D Bhowmick, deputy director of state Aimal Resource Department, said ?the pattern of 60-62 per cent mortality rate is alarming in the block II of Rampurhat. The Rampurhat block I has also reported some cases.
?Samples had been collected and sent to the Bhopal laboratory. But right now we cannot describe it as an outbreak of bird flu because the laboratory will submit its final report to the department concerned of the Central government and they will make the necesary announcement,? Bhowmick said.
The problem was that the birds affected are home-bred, the sources said. Villagers of Margram of Rampurhat II block had informed the village panchayat that the birds they reared were dying following a brief period of drowsiness. When the number increased rapidly in the last week, the district asdministration took up the matter seriously.
Officers of the animal resources department from New Delhi and Kolkata arrived here on Saturday and started monitoring the situation and taking precautionary measures. They also held a high-level meeting yesterday. (PTI)

http://www.sentinelassam.com/sentine...ational.htm#a1

**Treyfish** · January 14, 2008, 06:44 PM

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=450 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=headline>No proof of flu virus but WB starts culling lakhs of chickens</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=450 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=news colSpan=3>
Pioneer News Service | Kolkata
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The West Bengal Government has ordered the mass culling of lakhs of chickens in Birbhum district and other areas, although there is no evidence as yet of avian flu. Samples have been sent to High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal. The laboratory will take at least a week for its tests before it can come up with a conclusive report.</TD><TD class=news vAlign=top width=5> </TD><TD align=right width=100>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=news vAlign=top colSpan=2>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news vAlign=top colSpan=2>"The Government is taking seriously the death of 20,000 birds in the past few days," State Animal Husbandry Minister Anisur Rehman said and quoted the Central Livestock Commissioner in Delhi as saying that it could be 'bird flu'.
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news vAlign=top colSpan=2>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news vAlign=top colSpan=2>The Government was not sure however whether the deaths were caused by the more deadly strains of the virus. Health Department officials while quickly passing the buck said "the Animal Resources Department will be able to tell you better."
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news vAlign=top colSpan=2>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news vAlign=top colSpan=2>Birbhum Collector TK Som said he did not have specific directions from the Government on mass culling but said "we have restricted the movement of birds from the district and are ready for the culling job. We have asked poultry farm owners to stop dealing in chicken and take other precautions." According to another senior official, more than 60 per cent mortality rate among the birds was alarming and any moment an outbreak could be declared.
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news vAlign=top colSpan=2>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news vAlign=top colSpan=2>"We are waiting for the Centre's directive and we will declare it as soon as we get one," Government sources said adding they were waiting for the final confirmation from the Bhopal-based Animal Husbandry Laboratory.
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news vAlign=top colSpan=2>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news vAlign=top colSpan=2>Tamiflu tablets the standard medicine prescribed for the diseases have been sent to the district and the Health Department is keeping stocks ready for a contingency. According to experts the disease might have come in from neighbouring Bangladesh which has been fighting the diseases for the past one year or so.
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news vAlign=top colSpan=2>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news vAlign=top colSpan=2>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news vAlign=top colSpan=2>Samples reach HSADL, results in a week

</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news vAlign=top colSpan=2>Pioneer News Service | Bhopal
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news vAlign=top colSpan=2>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news vAlign=top colSpan=2>Samples from Margram in the Rampurhat area of Birbhum district in West Bengal following deaths of thousands of poultry birds have reached the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal. The examination of the samples would probably get completed within a week after which the report would be sent to the Union Ministry of Agriculture as well as the authorities of the concerned district.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=front%5Fpage&file_name=story5%2Etxt&counter_img=5

**Treyfish** · January 14, 2008, 06:56 PM

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

Birbhum gets ready to cull poultry birds
Sabyasachi Roy
RAMPURHAT, Jan. 14: Birbhum district authorities have made all arrangements to carry out culling of poultry birds in Rampurhat area after thousands of chickens died in the area over the past few days.
Though officially, the disease was not declared as avian flu or bird flu, a senior district official told The Statesman: ?A preliminary report from the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, Bhopal has confirmed the presence of H5N1 virus here. We have kept all required arrangements ready to tackle the situation as soon as we get the final report, which is expected to reach by tomorrow.? ?The pattern of 60-62 per cent death rate of chicken is alarming in Rampurhat Block-II. The Rampurhat Block-I has also reported some cases. We have already alerted all the concerned departments in Rampurhat-I, Rampurhat II, a portion of Nalhati-II blocks in Birbhum and two panchayats namely Parulia and Sabalda in Murshidabad?s Khorgram Block,? said the official.
Officials also said a team from the state veterinary department comprising 300 officials had reached the area to help in precautionary measures. Villagers have been asked to wear masks and cover their hands and legs while feeding birds. A two-member team of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) has been sent to collect samples from parts of Birbhum and South Dinajpur districts in West Bengal where deaths of poultry have been reported

http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.p...esman/400x60/0

**Treyfish** · January 14, 2008, 07:14 PM

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

Avian flu scare grips W Bengal
Ajoy K Das
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 05:26 IST

KOLKATA: The West Bengal administration is readying to cull lakhs of chickens over the next three days following resurfacing of bird flu in the state that has reportedly led to around 10,000 chickens dying over the past few days.
Health officials are however still testing samples to determine whether the latest outbreak of avian influenza is of the H5N1 strain. In a single district in Birbhum, thousands of chicken have been reported to have died from bird flu in Margram village.
Officials from Centre?s animal husbandry department have landed in Birhbum, who along with state government health officials have fanned out across the district in protective suits, quarantining villagers in affected villages and handing out masks. Villagers are being instructed to stop all buying and selling of chicken.
The state government has not yet officially declared the outbreak of bird flu as it is awaiting final test reports of samples from the Animal Husbandry Laboratory in Bhopal, but the district administration has been put on high alert and logistics for culling lakhs of birds are being put in place.
A two member team of National Institute of Communicable Disease (NICD) are already in Birbhum to collect samples and prepare a preliminary report.
Menawhile the Union health secretary Naresh Dayal said in Delhi that the ministry has already sent large doses of the preventive Tamiflu drug to the state.
?Culling will take place in villages as well as towns where many people have poultry in their backyards. We have already taken all precautionary measures in Birbhum, like restricting movement of people along the highways and halting all trade in poultry products in the region,? said a district official.
State health officials said that the latest outbreak could have spread from Bangladesh which is still reeling under avian influenza.
They fear that if the H5N1 strain is confirmed by the Animal Husbandry Laboratory, there is a distinct possibility that the virus may have mutated or combined with other contagious viruses which could pose the threat of a pandemic.
The first case of avian influenza was reported in India in July last year, ever since the country was declared to be free of bird flu in August 2006.

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1145174

**Treyfish** · January 14, 2008, 07:42 PM

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px"><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #dcdcdc 1px solid" colSpan=2>Bird flu: Emergency plans in West Bengal
</TD></TR><TR style="PADDING-TOP: 5px"><TD class=Dateline vAlign=top>

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</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left>Mohuya Chaudhuri

Monday, January 14, 2008 (Birbhum)

Bird flu may have resurfaced in India, this time in West Bengal's Birbhum district. At least ten thousand birds have died in just one village, Margram, over the past ten days.

While the entire state remains on alert, personnel from the Centre's Animal husbandry department are in the area to assess the situation and advise residents.

The state government is also preparing for culling in Birbhum, where the movement of poultry has been restricted. Three lakh birds will be culled in the next ten days over an area of ten gram panchayats.

Villages are being quarantined and masks being given to villagers as part of the efforts to contain the deadly virus.

The state medical authorities however, say there is no confirmation whether this is the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus as laboratory reports are yet to come in.

District Magistrate Tapan Kumar Shome said ''all departments concerned have been alerted. The villagers have been asked not to sell or buy chicken. They have also been asked to wear masks and cover their hands and legs while feeding birds.''

Though neither the district administration nor the veterenary department confirmed an outbreak of birdflu, a preliminary report from the High Security Animal Husbandry Laboratory in Bhopal has apparently confirmed the disease affecting poultry there, official sources said.

Villagers of Margram of Rampurhat II block had informed the village panchayat that the birds they reared were dying following a brief period of drowsiness.

When the number increased rapidly in the last week, the district asdministration took up the matter seriously.

Neighbouring Bangladesh is still reeling under bird flu with around 21 of the country's 64 districts affected by the deadly virus.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

http://publication.samachar.com/pub_article.php?id=1073305&navname=General%20&moreurl=http://publication.samachar.com/ndtv/general/ndtv.php&homeurl=http://www.samachar.com

**HenryN** · January 14, 2008, 07:43 PM

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

<TABLE class=RedTableBorder style="HEIGHT: 483px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR style="PADDING-LEFT: 10px" vAlign=top><TD class=articalTitle align=middle>Thousands of chickens being culled over fears of bird flu <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=430 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=dates id=hDate height=27>Published: Tuesday, 15 January, 2008, 02:21 AM Doha Time</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR style="PADDING-RIGHT: 12px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px"><TD class=articalBody id=artical1 vAlign=top height=345><TABLE width=10 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle></TD></TR><TR><TD class=imgcaption id=Comment dir=rtl vAlign=top align=middle>A poultry owner buries dead chickens in a paddy field in Margram village, about 240km north of Kolkata yesterday</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>KOLKATA: India began culling thousands of chickens yesterday and checking people for fever in a remote eastern village after preliminary tests on dead poultry showed they were infected with bird flu.
But officials were still testing to see if the latest outbreak of avian influenza was of the H5N1 strain.
Health workers wearing protective suits and masks began scanning backyard poultry around Margram village in West Bengal state where more than 10,000 chickens died in the past 10 days.
West Bengal borders Bangladesh, which is badly affected by bird flu with almost a third of the country?s 64 districts affected by the virus.
?Not just the villages, we are also looking to cull chickens in a nearby town as most people there have backyard poultry,? Mrinal Majumder, a West Bengal police officer, said.
?We have cleared roads, restricted movement of people and stopped people from selling chickens (in the area).?
Samples from the affected birds were sent to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal to determine the cause of death.
?All departments concerned have been alerted,? administration official Tapan Shome said. ?The villagers have been asked not to sell or buy chicken. They have also been asked to wear masks and cover their hands and legs while feeding birds.?
Officials said they were receiving reports of dead birds from more villages. They estimate the number of birds that need to be culled at ?several thousands?.
Top officials of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the department of animal husbandry have rushed to West Bengal.
?We have sent two deputy directors, J Khan and Ramesh Agarwal, to take stock of the situation in West Bengal. They will interact with field officers and prepare a report on the alleged outbreak of the disease,? NICD Director General Shiv Lal said in New Delhi.
Two officials of the department of animal husbandry, joint commissioner A B Negi and assistant commissioner Sujit Dutta, are also in West Bengal.
Lal said the deaths cannot be termed a bird flu outbreak until the HSADL gives its report.
HSADL chief S C Dubey said: ?The testing is underway. It can normally take six days.?
?Tomorrow, Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss will hold a joint monitoring group meeting with the Department of Animal Husbandry,? Lal said.
Officials of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), NICD and Director General of Health Services (DGHS) will attend the meeting, a health ministry official said.
India, home to tens of millions of farmers who keep poultry in their yards, has seen three major outbreaks of bird flu in poultry since 2006, all of which were brought under control. No human cases have been reported in India.
Experts fear the H5N1 virus might mutate or combine with the highly contagious seasonal influenza virus and spark a pandemic that could kill millions of people.
Bird flu has killed more than 210 people in 12 countries since 2003, the World Health Organisation says.- Agencies
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**Treyfish** · January 14, 2008, 07:49 PM

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

WB: 10,000 birds die due to viral fever
Joydeep Sengupta

Sunday, January 13, 2008 (Birbhum)

Reports from West Bengal have indicated that as many as 10,000 birds have died in the last two or three days in Margram in the Birbhum district.

Reportedly, the deaths have been due to a viral fever in the district.

A central team will also visit the area to assess the situation. Samples have already been sent to Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL).

Although the state government is not willing to comment, there are concerns that this may be a case of bird flu.

Access Denied

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080038485&ch=1/14/2008%207:37:00%20AM

**AlaskaDenise** · January 14, 2008, 08:22 PM

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

Originally posted by niman View Post

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01...Confirmed.html

Commentary

H5N1 Confirmed in West Bengal India

Recombinomics Commentary 23:20
January 14, 2008

We have been informed that, after primary screening, H5N1 virus has been identified.

On Sunday evening, the Bhopal lab sent a message to the state government confirming the presence of the bird flue virus.

The district's chief medical officer of health (CMOH), Sunil Kumar Bhowmick, said: "Preliminary tests have confirmed that this is bird flu. It has already been reported to the district administration. An isolation ward has been opened in Rampurhat hospital.

The above comments indicate H5N1 has been confirmed in West Bengal, India (see satellite map). Although some media reports cite six more days for confirmation, it seems likely that the six days are for a pathogenicity test. However, Qinghai H5N1 generally kills all experimentally infected birds in 1-2 days, so the test is completed quickly.

However, sequencing of the HA cleavage site is sufficient to determine that H5 is high path, as well as determine the strain. The Qinghai strain, and the Uva Lake derivative, has a characteristic cleavage site of GERRRKKR.

The large number of dead birds, coupled with ongoing H5N1 outbreaks in adjacent Bangladesh, indicated H5N1 was the cause of poultry deaths prior to testing.

The continued spread of H5N1 was suggested by the large number of outbreaks in the fall.

.

**Treyfish** · January 14, 2008, 08:38 PM

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

No surgical gloves so plastic bags: state staff say we aren?t equipped
Ravik Bhattacharya

Posted online: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at 0034 hrs

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A girl with dead birds at Margram on Monday. An estimated 15,000 birds have died there in the last 15 days.

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KOLKATA, JANUARY 14: Plastic bags instead of surgical gloves, just 12 gowns for some 50 health workers, no protective masks, no goggles ? and complete ignorance about what exactly needs to be done. This is the situation in the West Bengal Health department which now stares at a suspected outbreak of avian flu in parts of Birbhum.
Worse, the Animal Husbandry and Resource Development Department, responsible for the health of the birds, has no clue what action is being taken by the other department. Neither department has enough supplies of protective gear like specialised gowns, masks, boots, gloves and goggles that?s mandatory for staff monitoring or investigating an outbreak.
Fifty Health department workers sent to the affected areas have been told to slip on plastic packets on their hands and fasten it with rubber bands since the department cannot provide sterile gloves.
Hospitals in the affected areas do not have isolation wards or quarantine zones. Makeshift isolation wards are being opened in the Muraroi block primary health centre and Rampurhat sub-divisional hospital for possible human cases, but the staff is ill-equipped and unaware.
Sanchita Bakshi, West Bengal Director of Health Services, said: ?We are doing what we can. Bengal has never seen bird flu before. And in this case, we are yet to get confirmation from the Bhopal laboratory.?
?We have limited gowns which we had given them (health workers). We are trying to arrange more. Meanwhile, they have been told to take precautions like wearing plastic packets on their hands,? said Bakshi.
She said she was not aware of what the Animal Husbandry department was doing.
Animal Husbandry Minister Anisur Rehman said: ?I don?t know what the Health department is doing. We are doing our work.? He said his officers had fanned out in the area and stopped the sale and movement of chicken and chicken products.
?We have also discussed the question of sealing the border,? Rehman said.
Bakshi, meanwhile, said: ?We think that the suspected cases are because of chicks brought from Bangladesh.? The state government is yet to set up a laboratory at Belgachia to test for avian flu. Last year, a meeting was held between the state and Union Health Ministry regarding the project and officials from Delhi visited Kolkata. But the laboratory has still not been opened.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/261569.html

**HenryN** · January 15, 2008, 03:44 AM

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

First Published: 13:36 IST(15/1/2008)
Last Updated: 13:39 IST(15/1/2008)

Red alert in Orissa over bird flu in West Bengal

The coastal state of Orissa has woken up to the scare of bird flu in the state after thousands of poultry died in neighbouring West Bengal. The state on Tuesday alerted veterinary officials to take precautionary measures against a possible outbreak of the avian fever.
At least 10,000 poultry in a West Bengal village died over the past 10 days but authorities are yet to confirm if the deaths were due to the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. The birds died in Margram village of Birbhum district, about 200 km from West Bengal capital Kolkata.
"We have alerted collectors in all the 30 districts of the state and asked them to remain on high alert for a possible outbreak," state health secretary Chinmay Basu told IANS.
"We do not have any specific report of bird flu in the state but are taking measures to meet any eventuality," State Animal Husbandry Minister Golak Nayak told IANS.
He added that wildlife officials of Chilika Lake, Bhitarkanika National Park and Nandankanan Geological Park have also been alerted as millions of migratory birds thronged the water bodies this winter.
There was a mass culling of poultry in Maharashtra in February 2006 after cases of bird flu were detected among chickens there.
The World Health Organisation later declared India bird flu-free.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=668cdd13-8567-4576-81e1-9d5d2021f8df

**AlaskaDenise** · January 15, 2008, 03:45 AM

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=429 align=justify border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=ld>Special teams sent to suspected bird flu-hit WB villages </TD></TR><TR><TD height=15></TD></TR><TR><TD class=kicker>Suri (WB), Jan 15: The Birbhum district administration on Tuesday dispatched 50 special teams to help people dispose of dead chickens in Rampurhat sub-division where bird flu alert has been sounded.

An emergency meeting of all the Block Development Officers (BDO) of Rampurhat sub-division has also been called today to discuss the issue, official sources said.

The Central government is yet to declare the death of the chickens as an "outbreak" and is waiting for a report from a laboratory in Bhopal where samples have been referred.

Unofficial reports said at least 20,000 chickens have died so far.

The health department of the state government has also formed 12 teams, each comprising a doctor and other health workers, to start rapid culling of the birds in the case an outbreak is confirmed, District Magistrate Tapan Shome said.

The Assistant Director of the Animal Husbandry Department at the Centre, A B Negi, today visited Rampurhat sub-division of the district. An isolation ward had been opened in the Rampurhat District Hospital to treat any possible cases of human bird flu.

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**HenryN** · January 15, 2008, 04:07 AM

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

Bird flu confirmed in two districts of West Bengal

CNN-IBN

Published on Tue, Jan 15, 2008 at 10:59, Updated at Tue, Jan 15, 2008 in Nation section

Tags: Bird Flu, Avian Flu Alert , New Delhi

E-mail this report | Print this report





BIRD FLU'S HERE: Over 10,000 birds have died in the past 10 days in Birbhum and S Dinajpur districts.

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New Delhi: Preliminary tests on samples of dead birds from Birbhum and South Dinajpur districts of West Bengal have confirmed bird flu.

Reports quoting an Agriculture Ministry official said that an outbreak could be declared once a confirmation is received from the Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal.

?We have received samples from two districts of West Bengal,? confirmed High Security Animal Disease Laboratory?s Joint Director, S C Dubey.

?Scientists are handling the samples. As soon as we get the results they will be made available through the Government of India,? he said.

Central teams have already been dispatched to the affected areas and as a precautionary measure, trade in poultry in Birbhum and South Dinajpur districts has been restricted. There's an alert in the entire state and villages in these districts have been quarantined.

Close to 10,000 chickens died in the last 10 days at Margram in Birbhum. Reports say that over 15,000 birds have perished since December 29 but apparently, the government took few measures at the time.

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/bird-flu-confirmed-in-two-districts-of-west-bengal/56525-3.html

**AlaskaDenise** · January 15, 2008, 05:03 AM

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

India confirms new bird flu outbreak is H5N1 strain

The government confirmed on Tuesday that the latest outbreak of bird flu in poultry in West Bengal was of the virulent H5N1 strain.

"The strain is deadly enough to kill the birds," central Health Secretary Naresh Dayal told Reuters by phone from New Delhi. "Our teams are already there, now people will be monitored for flu-like symptoms and there will be surveillance."

More than 18,000 chickens and other poultry have died in and around Margram village in West Bengal over the last couple of weeks, officials have said.

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Announcement

India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 13 - Jan 20

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