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

[HenryN]

http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-31380020080113

India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

Sun Jan 13, 2008 7:53pm IST


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KOLKATA (Reuters) - Preliminary results of tests taken after thousands of backyard poultry died in West Bengal over the past 10 days showed they were infected with bird flu, but it was unclear if it was the H5N1 virus, officials said.
More than 10,000 birds died in Margram village of Birbhum district in West Bengal.
"The preliminary tests showed the birds have died from bird flu, but we still don't know whether it is the deadly H5N1 strain," Sunil Kumar Bhowmik, chief medical officer of Birbhum, told Reuters.
"We will quarantine people if we find anybody sick and intensify culling tomorrow morning until we get the confirmation in a few days," Bhowmik said.
Thousands of birds in India were culled in 2006 following three separate outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 virus in Maharastra.
Neighbouring Bangladesh is still reeling under bird flu with around 21 of the country's 64 districts affected by the deadly virus.
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.

[HenryN]

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01130801/H5N1_West_Bengal.html

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

Rampurhat, January 14, 2008


25,000 birds die, avian flu scare in Bengal

Around 25,000 poultry birds have died in a farm along the India-Bangladesh border at Margram in Rampurhat area of Birbhum district on Sunday, sparking fears of a bird flu breakout.

The disease was also reported from Moulabibazar area in northeastern Bangladesh, it was learnt.

Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) in Birbhum SK Bhowmick said: "It might be a case of bird flu. Thousands of chickens have died of bird flu-like symptoms in the farm in the past few days. We have already taken all preventive measures and sent samples of dead birds to the Bhopal laboratory."

Dr SC Dubey, director of the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal, refused to comment on the matter.

Reports of birds dying in large numbers are coming from many parts of the district. Local residents said hens have been dying of an unknown disease over the past 10 days in Margram village under Margram police station.

Dr Santanu Bandopadhayay, animal husbandry commissioner under the agricultural ministry in New Delhi said the Bhopal lab has not sent any reports yet.

On Sunday, officials of the Bengal animal husbandry department and the Birbhum district civil, health and police administration held a meeting at Margram on the issue.

Ten days ago, a Margram farmer, Bhutto Sk, noticed some of his hens looking drowsy. "The hens stood at one place for a few hours, keeping their heads low as if they were feeling drowsy. Then, they died. 50 of my hens died just like that," he said.

District administration sources reveled that all 95 self-help groups in the village are engaged in the poultry business.

"We also saw the hens looking drowsy. When one of these birds were killed, we found several blood clots," said Asmuda Khatun, another poultry farmer.

Panicked villagers have started cooking the diseased hens. "We don't know what to do. We have invested a lot of our money in this business," said Bablu Mal, a farmer.

There are many others like Bablu, who are eating the diseased hens.

Though the district civil administration has not confirmed whether it is "bird flu", it has cautioned villagers. "We have restricted selling of hens in the village and told villagers to separate the diseased hens and prevent hens from moving out of their pens," said Tapan Kumar Shome, Birbhum DM.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=9ff2aca7-db22-4ed0-a3b7-97ff357a20dc

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

?Bird Flu? in Birbhum

RAMPURHAT, Jan. 13: Panic gripped Muraroi, a small settlement in Birbhum, after at least 25,000 chickens were found dead from a mysterious disease over the past seven days.

The district authorities have contacted experts of the Union animal resource development ministry. An experts? team arrived in the district today. Officials said the symptoms of the disease are similar to avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, caused by the deadly H5N1 virus.

With experts fearing the disease to be a critical one, the district authorities issued an alert in the area this afternoon. Earlier, a meeting was held between senior district officials and experts from New Delhi.

The district authorities announced the closure of all meat shops in the area and asked the people to stay away from their chickens. Precautionary measures have been taken by the local administration and self-help groups are holding awareness camps.

The experts have collected samples from the dead birds to the Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal for a confirmation test.

Reports are expected tomorrow. Mr Prasun Kumar Mondal, SDO Rampurhat, said: ?A meeting was held today with directors and officials of the Union ministry.

Precautionary measures have been adopted by the administration to stop the spread of the disease. Export and import of birds from the area have been prohibited. The Centre is helping to control the situation.?

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=1&theme=&usrsess=1&id=185687

Location of RAMPURHAT, capital of Birbhum District, India

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

snip:

?We have already received the report from the Bhopal laboratory. They have confirmed that it is a case of bird flu"

Suspected bird flu outbreak has Bengal on alert, final report awaited

Monday, January 14, 2008

Bhopal lab cautions after sample test, unclear if it?s deadly H5N1 virus

KOLKATA, JANUARY 13: Alerted by the Bhopal-based High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, the West Bengal government is bracing itself to contain a possible outbreak of avian flu at Margram in Birbhum district.

Preliminary results of tests taken after some 10,000 backyard poultry died in Margram over the past 10 days showed they were infected but it was unclear if it was the deadly H5N1 virus.

Thousands of birds in the country were culled in 2006 following separate outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 virus in Maharashtra.

Bangladesh, which borders West Bengal, is still reeling under bird flu with around 21 of the country?s 64 districts affected by the deadly virus.

West Bengal Minister for Animal Resource Development Anisur Rahman told The Indian Express today: ?We sent samples to the Bhopal laboratory which, in its preliminary report, suggested that it could be avian flu.

They advised us to take all possible measures to prevent it from spreading. I have asked the district administration to stop the exchange of poultry to and from the area. I have also sent several officials to the spot. The Centre, which has been apprised of the situation, has also sent an official there. Tomorrow, if we get the confirmation in the final report, we will order culling of birds.?

State Director of Health Services Sanchita Bakshi said no alarm had been sounded. ?Around 500 birds have died. We have sent samples for testing at laboratories in Delhi and Bhopal. We are waiting for the confirmation,? Bakshi said.

But Birbhum Zila Sabhadhipati Manasa Hasda maintained these were cases of avian flu. ?We have already received the report from the Bhopal laboratory. They have confirmed that it is a case of bird flu. Bird trade going in and out of Birbhum will be stopped,? said Hasda, adding that 25 mobile vans will be deployed from tomorrow to spread awareness on avian flu.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/261201.html

[HenryN]

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

First Published: 00:54 IST(14/1/2008)
Last Updated: 01:03 IST(14/1/2008)

25,000 birds die, avian flu scare in Bengal


Around 25,000 poultry birds have died in a farm along the India-Bangladesh border at Margram in Rampurhat area of Birbhum district on Sunday, sparking fears of a bird flu breakout.

The disease was also reported from Moulabibazar area in northeastern Bangladesh, it was learnt.

Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) in Birbhum SK Bhowmick said: "It might be a case of bird flu. Thousands of chickens have died of bird flu-like symptoms in the farm in the past few days. We have already taken all preventive measures and sent samples of dead birds to the Bhopal laboratory."

Dr SC Dubey, director of the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal, refused to comment on the matter.

Reports of birds dying in large numbers are coming from many parts of the district. Local residents said hens have been dying of an unknown disease over the past 10 days in Margram village under Margram police station.

Dr Santanu Bandopadhayay, animal husbandry commissioner under the agricultural ministry in New Delhi said the Bhopal lab has not sent any reports yet.

On Sunday, officials of the Bengal animal husbandry department and the Birbhum district civil, health and police administration held a meeting at Margram on the issue.

Ten days ago, a Margram farmer, Bhutto Sk, noticed some of his hens looking drowsy. "The hens stood at one place for a few hours, keeping their heads low as if they were feeling drowsy. Then, they died. 50 of my hens died just like that," he said.

District administration sources reveled that all 95 self-help groups in the village are engaged in the poultry business.

"We also saw the hens looking drowsy. When one of these birds were killed, we found several blood clots," said Asmuda Khatun, another poultry farmer.

Panicked villagers have started cooking the diseased hens. "We don't know what to do. We have invested a lot of our money in this business," said Bablu Mal, a farmer.

There are many others like Bablu, who are eating the diseased hens.

Though the district civil administration has not confirmed whether it is "bird flu", it has cautioned villagers. "We have restricted selling of hens in the village and told villagers to separate the diseased hens and prevent hens from moving out of their pens," said Tapan Kumar Shome, Birbhum DM.


http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=9ff2aca7-db22-4ed0-a3b7-97ff357a20dc

[HenryN]

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

Map updated

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=106484775090296685271.0004353ecc9cb8856de8c&om=0&t=h&ll=23.402765,89.604492&spn=8.342347,10.437012&z=6

[Treyfish]

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

Web Release 2008

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary in India

January 9, 2008
NEW DELHI - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael O. Leavitt is visiting India. Secretary Leavitt is visiting sites in Chennai, Hyderabad, Cochin, and New Delhi that produce food and medicine for export to the United States as well as health care facilities that deliver polio vaccine and provide care and treatment for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.
He will meet with senior officials in the Indian Government, business leaders in the export community, as well as university students and faculty. This trip is the Secretary's fourth trip to Asia since taking office at HHS.

http://mumbai.usconsulate.gov/pr010907a3.html

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

Commentary

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

Commentary

Suspect H5N1 in West Bengal India

Recombinomics Commentary 15:51
January 13, 2008

Preliminary results of tests taken after thousands of backyard poultry died in West Bengal over the past 10 days showed they were infected with bird flu, but it was unclear if it was the H5N1 virus, officials said.

More than 10,000 birds died in Margram village of Birbhum district in West Bengal.

The above comments suggest that H5N1 has been detected in West Bengal, India. Such an outbreak would not be a surprise, because adjacent Bangladesh has been reporting H5N1 outbreaks almost daily (see satellite map). Similarly, Pakistan recently reported the most sustained human to human transmission of H5N1 and Saudi Arabia has culled over 5 million birds, as Egypt and Israel report new outbreaks and Iran has sent samples to Italy for confirmation. H5N1 is also being reported throughout Europe, as OIE officials say there are just two hotspots west of China (in Egypt and Nigeria).

H5N1 has been spreading under the radar of abysmal surveillance programs, and now poultry outbreaks are being widely reported.

.

[HenryN]

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

India culls chickens in West Bengal village to contain bird flu

Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:21am IST

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KOLKATA (Reuters) - India began culling thousands of chickens on Monday and checking people for fever in a remote village in West Bengal 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 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)."
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".
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.

http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-31383620080114

[HenryN]

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

18,000 poultry birds die in West Bengal


Special Correspondent







KOLKATA: The deaths of more than 18,000 poultry birds in over five days in two blocks of West Bengal?s Birbhum district have triggered the fear of an outbreak of a bird flu epidemic. Samples have been sent to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, Bhopal, to ascertain whether or not the deaths were caused by avian flu. The deaths were reported from the Rampurhat area of the district between January 8 and 12, Principal Secretary, Animal Resources Development department, D.K. Chakravarty said.
A team from the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries of the Union Ministry of Agriculture was in the area, he said.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/15/stories/2008011554551100.htm

[HenryN]

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

Bird flu scare grips Bengal</ARTTITLE>
15 Jan 2008, 0153 hrs IST,TNN

SMS NEWS to 58888 for latest updates
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: The deadly H5N1 avian influenza or bird flu virus in poultry may have resurfaced in India, this time in West Bengal's Birbhum district. The possibility seems strong with nearly 19,000 chickens having died in the village of Margram, 125 km from Kolkata, between January 8 and 13.

Even though an initial report from the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal and clinical symptoms like high mortality among birds point at a H5N1 outbreak, both the health and animal husbandry departments are officially tightlipped. Officials say a final HSADL report is awaited, which will confirm a possible outbreak. Bird samples have also been sent to National Institute of Virology, Pune.

Union health secretary Naresh Dayal said on Monday: "The clinical symptoms do point at bird flu. But final reports are awaited from HSADL and NIV." West Bengal animal resources development minister Anisur Rehman said: "Preliminary tests suggest bird flu to be the cause of the deadly infection. But my hunch is that it is Ranikhet disease."

But if H5N1 is confirmed, this will be the fourth time that India has been hit by the virus in the past two years. In February 2006, bird flu hit Maharashtra and Gujarat. On July 25, 2007, it hit Manipur. This time the suspected outbreak has come about less than two months since India declared itself free of the virus, after the cases in Manipur.

Meanwhile, wasting no time, the West Bengal government on Monday sounded a bird flu alert. The administration in Birbhum has already imposed a ban on sale of birds in Rampurhat municipal area and the two neighbouring blocks ? Rampurhat I and Rampuhat II ? from where abnormal mortality of chickens have been reported. The state's borders have also been sealed to prevent entry of chicken from Bangladesh which has been badly affected by the virus.

District officials have started distributing leaflets in the area urging residents not to buy chicken. The leaflets also warned villagers to put on gloves while feeding their backyard poultry or wild birds. Animal husbandry officials have already decided to cull birds and poultry stocks within a five-km radius of Margram. Culling is expected to start from Tuesday. Sources said that India could officially declare a bird flu outbreak on Tuesday. Over 50 rapid response teams have been formed to carry out surveillance on bird deaths as well as human population reporting symptoms like fever and cough.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2700370,prtpage-1.cms

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[HenryN]

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

First report confirms bird flu in West Bengal, Central health teams at Ground Zero


Posted online: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at 0031 hrs IST
BIDYUT ROY & AMITAV RANJAN
MARGRAM, NEW DELHI, JANUARY 14
As West Bengal worked on an action plan to contain a suspected outbreak of avian flu in two blocks of Birbhum district, an Agriculture Ministry official in New Delhi today said the ?preliminary report is confirmatory (for avian flu). The outbreak will be declared tomorrow once the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (in Bhopal) sends its report on specifics such as identification of the strain.?
While villagers in Birbhum?s affected Margram area feasted on dead birds, unaware why their poultry was dying, Rampurhat Block Medical Officer Abhijit Roychoudhury said: ?We have been informed that after primary screening, the H5N1 virus has been identified. We are taking a number of measures. A medical team is being prepared. Already Tamiflu drugs are here. Now it is up to the Union Government to notify the area as affected by H5N1. After notification, we will take action.?
In New Delhi, Union Health Secretary Naresh Dayal said the Ministry has already sent large doses of the preventive Tamiflu drug to the state. ?Samples of the dead birds have been sent to the laboratory in Bhopal. The final report has not come yet, but there is an indication that it may be bird flu,? he said, adding that samples have also been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune. ?If and when we get a confirmation that it is bird flu, that is the deadly H5N1, we will declare an outbreak,? he said.
The Department of Animal Husbandry in the Ministry issued instructions for setting up a control room and dispatched Joint Commissioner A B Negi to Kolkata to coordinate the culling of birds that will start tomorrow. Birbhum and South Dinajpur districts have reported large number of poultry deaths with Rampurhat II in Birbhum reporting 10,800 dead out of 15,000 affected and South Dinajpur reporting 2,964 birds affected, an official said. One state-run poultry farm in South Dinajpur reported 230 deaths out of 247 affected, the official added.
The Centre sent two experts from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) who met district medical officers in Margram. Although the state government?s alert had reached the district magistrate last evening, the animal husbandry department staff hadn?t fanned out today. Villagers learnt of a possible outbreak only when the media showed up. Officials of the state Animal Resource Development Department had collected samples from from Margram I and Margram II gram panchayat areas under Rampurhat Block II on January 8 and sent them to Bhopal for testing. Last evening, the Bhopal laboratory sent a message to the state government, confirming the presence of a virus though it said more tests needed to be done to confirm if it was the deadly H5N1 strain.
Sunil Kumar Bhowmick, Birbhum Chief Medical Officer of Health, said ?preliminary tests have confirmed that this is bird flu, an isolation ward has been opened in Rampurhat hospital.? An estimated 15,000 birds have perished here since December 29. But clearly, no visible steps have been taken to contain the spread of the virus ? dead birds continue to litter the area. Margram II?s block livestock development officer Debrup Roy said: ?I came to know only today.? The organised poultry sector has not been affected so far but the virus seems to have hit backyard poultry in almost every household of Margram I block. Most farmers rear livestock as well as the free-range ?desi? chicken for eggs or for sale in the local market.
Used to outbreaks of the Ranikhet disease, the villagers have been killing the sick birds and cooking them. Kazem Sheik of Begumpara in Margram lost some 40 birds in the last 12 days. ?Initially, we had a lot of chicken curry,? said Sheikh. ?Now we have only one hen left.?

http://www.indianexpress.com/printerFriendly/261566.html

[HenryN]

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=articleheader>Bird flu test puts Birbhum on six-day wait
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=articleauthor>OUR BUREAU</TD></TR><TR><TD class=story align=left><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=172 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=articleauthor align=left>A child with dead chickens at her home near Margram on Monday. Picture by DK Chakraborty </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Bhopal/Santiniketan, Jan. 14: The High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal today said there was no reason to panic as samples sent from Birbhum had not yet tested positive for bird flu but the district authorities geared up to cull chickens.
Over 15,000 chickens have died in Margram, about 280km from Calcutta, and some other villages over the past 10 days.
The director of the Bhopal laboratory, S.C. Dubey, said: ?There is no need to panic. We have received samples from Margram and Dinapur. Our scientists are conducting tests and it will take six days to arrive at any conclusion.?
He denied reports that either he or his lab had indicated the possibility of the existence of the deadly H5N1 virus in the samples. ?We work according to WHO guidelines and, therefore, are in no position to confirm anything till the entire process has been completed,? Dubey said.
Animal resources development minister Anisur Rahman yesterday said the Centre had told the state government that preliminary reports on the samples sent to Bhopal suggested bird flu.
Some samples have also been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune.
Rahman today said: ?There is no confirmation yet on whether the deaths were caused by bird flu or the Ranikhet disease but we have issued a statewide alert.?
At Birbhum headquarters Suri, district magistrate Tapan Kumar Som drew up plans to begin culling the moment bird flu was confirmed.
?All chickens within a 5km radius of the affected area will have to be killed. The government will compensate the owners,? he said.
Selling and buying chickens have been banned in Rampurhat blocks I and II and the Rampurhat municipal area.
Fifty teams have been formed for the culling exercise. Teams have been sent to disinfect areas where the culling will take place.
A campaign on bird flu was launched over public address systems and leaflets mentioning dos and don?ts were distributed in Rampurhat.
?We have asked villagers to cover their face and hands while providing feed to chickens. Also, we are asking them to use plastic packets as gloves while handling chicken. Diseased chickens have to be isolated,? an official said.
An isolation ward has been opened at Rampurhat Hospi- tal under instructions from Calcutta.
In Bhopal, Dubey said his lab had taken almost a week to confirm the outbreak of avian flu in Nandurbar district of Maharashtra in 2006 and in Imphal, Manipur, last year.
?The (Birbhum) district authorities are advised to take precautions in the meantime,? Dubey said.
In Nandurbar, about a million birds had to be culled after the existence of the H5N1 virus was confirmed.
The virus causes a type of influenza in birds that is highly contagious among them and can be deadly. It does not usu- ally infect people unless they come in close contact with infected birds or contaminated surfaces.
The bird flu scare has come barely a week after the Union agriculture ministry claimed that the country had achieved freedom from the disease on November 7 last year. It had notified the WHO accordingly.

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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080115/jsp/bengal/story_8784219.jsp

[HenryN]

Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths

Margram, Birbhum, Jan 14 The initial reports of bird flu among the poultry population in this part of West Bengal's Birbhum district galvanised the top district administration into holding a series of meetings through Monday, even as villagers remained unaware of the causes and feasted on chicken curry to make the best of a huge loss.
Abhijit Roychoudhury, block medical officer of health (BMOH) of the affected Rampurhat Block II, said: "We have been informed that, after primary screening, H5N1 virus has been identified. We are taking a number of measures. A medical team is being prepared."
"Already Tamiflu drugs are here. Now it is up to union government to notify the area as affected by H5N1. We will take action after the notification," Roychoudhury said after a after a marathon meeting with district officials and doctors. Tamiflu is the standard antiviral drug used for H5N1 infections in humans.
The Union government has sent two experts from the Institute of Communicable Diseases to the area. The experts met with medical officers who were brought to Margram from several parts of the district.
Although the state government's alert reached the district magistrate on Sunday evening, ground staff of the animal husbandry and resources development department were yet to be sent into action and villagers were alerted to the seriousness of the situation only by the appearance of media.
Officials of the animal resources development department had collected samples from Margram I and Margram II gram panchayat areas under Rampurhat Block II on
January 8 and sent them for testing to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal.
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.
With around 15,000 birds estimated to have died since December 29, when the first reports of unusual deaths surfaced here, dead birds lie all over the landscape and no steps were visible to contain the spread of the virus --- which shows itself first by causing drowsiness in the hens in the morning and completes its job by evening. The block livestock development officer (BLDO) of Margram II, Debrup Roy, said: "I came to know only today."</I></B>

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Initial-reports-confirm-bird-flu-in-Bengal/261613/