Re: Bengal Bird Flu Spread to Humans?
26 bird flu suspects isolated
Agencies
Friday, February 01, 2008 23:38 IST
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<!-- google ad end --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- image section ends -->KOLKATA: Twenty-six people have been put in isolation after they fell sick while culling poultry in bird flu-affected West Bengal, officials said on Friday.
Those quarantined have been complaining of fever and respiratory distress over the past few days, but health staff said it was unlikely they had bird flu. India has not reported any human infection of the H5N1 bird flu virus in its four outbreaks of avian influenza since 2006.
The preliminary tests for bird flu are negative, but more tests are being conducted and the list of sick people reviewed every day, RS Shukla, a senior health official, said.
Bird flu has spread to 13 of West Bengal?s 19 districts, spelling trouble for parts of the nation?s poultry business. Egg exports from the world?s second-largest producer have dropped about 50% in the past two weeks, leaving the industry with losses of around $20mn, trade officials said.
Consumption of poultry products has fallen to negligible levels in West Bengal, but chicken sales are recovering in other parts of the nation after an initial wobble when the latest outbreak was announced.
Veterinary staff has culled 2.6mn birds, completing what officials said was a successful operation that brought the bird flu situation under control.
The focus now is on hundreds of medical and veterinary workers and villagers who had come into close contact with dead or sick birds. Officials said health staff returning home after the culling operation had been asked to get themselves checked.
Dozens of isolation wards have been created in hospitals in the affected districts to handle any sudden rush of suspected human cases.
Experts fear the H5N1 strain could mutate into a form easily transmitted from person to person, leading to a pandemic, especially in countries such as India where people live in close proximity to backyard poultry.
?We are aware of the consequences of a possible human infection and we are taking all possible measures,? West Bengal health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra said.
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1148668
26 bird flu suspects isolated
Agencies
Friday, February 01, 2008 23:38 IST
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<!-- google ad end --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- image section ends -->KOLKATA: Twenty-six people have been put in isolation after they fell sick while culling poultry in bird flu-affected West Bengal, officials said on Friday.
Those quarantined have been complaining of fever and respiratory distress over the past few days, but health staff said it was unlikely they had bird flu. India has not reported any human infection of the H5N1 bird flu virus in its four outbreaks of avian influenza since 2006.
The preliminary tests for bird flu are negative, but more tests are being conducted and the list of sick people reviewed every day, RS Shukla, a senior health official, said.
Bird flu has spread to 13 of West Bengal?s 19 districts, spelling trouble for parts of the nation?s poultry business. Egg exports from the world?s second-largest producer have dropped about 50% in the past two weeks, leaving the industry with losses of around $20mn, trade officials said.
Consumption of poultry products has fallen to negligible levels in West Bengal, but chicken sales are recovering in other parts of the nation after an initial wobble when the latest outbreak was announced.
Veterinary staff has culled 2.6mn birds, completing what officials said was a successful operation that brought the bird flu situation under control.
The focus now is on hundreds of medical and veterinary workers and villagers who had come into close contact with dead or sick birds. Officials said health staff returning home after the culling operation had been asked to get themselves checked.
Dozens of isolation wards have been created in hospitals in the affected districts to handle any sudden rush of suspected human cases.
Experts fear the H5N1 strain could mutate into a form easily transmitted from person to person, leading to a pandemic, especially in countries such as India where people live in close proximity to backyard poultry.
?We are aware of the consequences of a possible human infection and we are taking all possible measures,? West Bengal health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra said.

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