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

[Shannon]

Cats, dogs, tigers, and of course the vultures. Pigs are also scavengers, so add those to the list. How many pigs do they have in this part of India?

[HenryN]

Commentary at

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

[HenryN]

Birdflu situation gets grim, Hawks and crows also hit by H5NI strain
Crows and hawks dying with bird flu symptoms in some areas of the bird flu-hit districts of Birbhum, Murshidabad and South Dinajpur have raised fears that the killer disease may spread to other districts, even Kolkata.
State Animal Resource Development (ARD) department officials said flying birds infected with the H5N1 virus may be carrying the disease to new places.
It is possibly because of the virus having hit flying birds that chickens are dying in areas outside those initially identified as affected by the killer disease. About 2,000 chickens died in Jamuria, Kirnahar and Barwan in Burdwan, Birbhum and Murshidabad districts on Thursday.State Director General of Health Services Sanchita Bakshi said: “Deaths of several birds and hawks were reported in the bird flu-affected villages in Rampurhat. We are keeping a watch on how these birds are dying.”
Dr Amaresh Chatterjee, a former director in the ARD department told HT: “It is a matter of concern once crows and hawks are affected with the H5N1 virus. Droplets of affected birds spread the virus rapidly everywhere — and even in ponds and water bodies. It is not possible to confine these birds in cages, as is possible with poultry birds.”
It is possibly because of the virus having hit flying birds that chickens are dying in areas outside those initially identified as affected by the killer disease. About 2,000 chickens died in Jamuria, Kirnahar and Barwan in Burdwan, Birbhum and Murshidabad districts on Thursday.
The ARD department messed up again in culling birds in Birbhum and South Dinajpur on Thursday at a time when the Centre, along with the World Health Organisation (WHO), criticised the state government for its delay in taking preventive action after the outbreak was confirmed by lab tests in Bhopal and Pune. The Centre has directed the state to cull birds in Murshidabad’s Khargram and Padakandi areas, bordering the worst-affected Rampurhat in Birbhum.

A senior WHO official said the fourth bird flu outbreak in India since 2006 presented its toughest challenge.

About 10,000 birds were culled in Birbhum while hardly 2,000 were killed in South Dinajpur. The state-sponsored culling process is too slow. State government officials said this is because the Centre has not sent an official communication about sharing the cost of culling.
In fact, the Centre is yet to issue an official notification declaring that the disease is of epidemic proportions, said ARD Minister Anisur Rahman.
The minister said payment of compensation to affected farmers would pose little problem.


http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=63ad2252-91a1-4abc-82d2-c4330fb4a062

[AlaskaDenise]

Originally Posted by niman

Commentary at

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

Commentary

H5N1 Spread to Murshidabad West Bengal is Likely

Recombinomics Commentary 09:34
January 17, 2008

With reports of poultry birds dying in fresh areas, the West Bengal government has decided to extend culling operations in areas in Murshidabad district rather than wait for a Central notification, Anisur Rahaman, Minister for Animal Resources Development, told The Hindu here on Thursday.

On Thursday more than 3,000 chickens died in Murshidabad. The affected areas are Padam Kandi, Kirtipur, Jaypur, Jhilli and Margram in Khargram block. Surprisingly, several crows also reportedly dropped dead in Berhampore. Sources said more than 25 crows died in Khagra crematorium area in Berampore in the last two days and that samples had been sent for tests.

An official admitted: "We feel Murshidabad deaths may also be due to H5N1.

Fresh cases of mortality have also been reported from the Khargram and Burwan blocks of Murshidabad district, adjoining the affected areas of Birbhum.

The above comments strongly suggest H5N1 has spread into Murshidabad blocks adjacent to Birbhum (see satellite map). Dead crows were also seen in the Birbhum outbreak. H5N1 confirmation in Murshidabad would be move the spread closer to Nadia, where there have been thousands of bird deaths. Nadia’s eastern border is shared with Bandladesh, where h5N1 has recently been confirmed in Jessore, which is less than 50 miles from Nadia.

Updates on H5N1 testing of samples from dead birds along the Bangladesh border would be useful.

.

[Shannon]

http://www.indianexpress.com/printer...ly/262554.html

	Print Story
Bird flu: villagers stall culling on Day 2 Ravik Bhattacharya Posted online: Friday, January 18, 2008 at 2249 hrs IST Margram (Birbhum), January 17 Culling operations on the second day here were stalled for about five hours, following an agitation by state coordination committee (affiliated to CPM) members. They gheraoed the Margram police station on Thursday morning, protesting against police harassment of one of their leaders and lack of amenities to carry out protective measures. They were mostly employees of the Animal Resources Development (ARD) department and were brought in from different districts. The villagers on their part took out protest rallies, complaining about inadequate compensation. Reports of agitation and resentment poured in from different affected villages. Villagers refused to hand over their poultry for culling at the compensation rate announced. The villagers also protested digging up pits to bury the chicken. Later, the operation could be only partially resumed in 127 villages of five affected blocks, including Rampurhat 1 and 2, Nalhati 1 and 2, Mayureshwar 1 and Muraroi 1 and 2. Chicken in two private poultries were also destroyed. Officials said 8,600 chicken and ducks were culled on Wednesday. “There are some problems, but we have asked district authorities to carry on with awareness campaigns in the villages. It is extremely important that we go on with proper culling operations,” said Dilip Das, Director, ARD department. Meanwhile, UN experts on Thursday said there were more “serious” risk factors that are associated with the current outbreak than previously encountered bird flu in the country. The reason: “the affected areas are more widespread because of proximity of extended border areas.” The UN reaction comes a day after the Animal Husbandry Department alleged that the state Government had delayed reacting to cases of “unusual” mortality. The High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal has tested one sample each from Birbhum and South Dinajpur districts as positive for the H5 AI strain. Preliminary tests also suggest the N1 sub-type, but there is no confirmation. The final report to establish the N-typing (whether it is N1, N2, N3, etc) of the virus would take 5-6 days, according to Government sources. (With Teena Thacker in New Delhi)

[hawkeye]

National egg panel blames it on panchayats

Kunal Chatterjee
KOLKATA, Jan. 17: The National Egg Coordination Committee is worried that the poultry industry in the country is likely to suffer a setback over the outbreak of bird flu in an isolated poultry pocket.
NECC officials allege that the panchayats supply 150 chickens free to villagers below the poverty line. These are not looked after and may be considered a principal reason behind the outbreak of the deadly disease every year.
The industry is in a rut owing to the increase in cost of feed such as maize and soya meal. Now, with the declaration of bird flu, egg export could come to a halt. India produces approximately 11 crore eggs a day, of which 1 crore is exported.
Mr Satish Chandra Gupta, NECC manager, Kolkata, said though India is a supplier of eggs, it is West Bengal that produces at least 1.5 lakh eggs daily but that fails to suffice for the entire state. It has to import at least 1.5 crore eggs daily.
He said: “The fluctuation of egg prices is not abnormal but we have calculated that there has been a 15 per cent drop in West Bengal's egg sale in the last two days.
Every egg that, until two days ago, cost Rs 1.92 is now Rs 1.78 a piece. This has had an impact on poultry products all over the country,” he said. Mr Dilip Kumar Chakraborty, principal secretary of the animal resources development department, is oblivious to the process of chicken distribution by the panchayats.
He said: “We are not aware whether the chicken supplied by the panchayat is healthy. But the ones that we supply from our farms are healthy because we supply them only after 20 days of birth.”
The Rs 36,000-crore poultry industry has responded to the government's declaration of Birbhum and South Dinajpur as bird flu-affected by urging that the country be zoned and compartmentalised, an NECC official said.
This will ensure that the impact of the flu-hit area is restricted and does not affect the industry, which employs close to 32 lakh people.
The NECC has made the demand in view of the fact that West Bengal is a poultry-deficit area, that is, poultry and eggs from the state do not move out to other parts of the country, Mr Gupta said.

[AlaskaDenise]

...feed such as maize...

If this is GM maize, it may have weakened the immune system of poultry, hence their increased susceptibility to H5N1. India has their own version of GM maize, but I don't know the exact details.


.

[Shannon]

http://www.bahraintribune.com/PrintPage.asp

Deadly flu spreading fast Kolkata (IANS) Thousands of poultry culled in West Bengal Culling of poultry continued for the second day yesterday in West Bengal amid reports of the deadly avian flu surfacing in new areas. Health workers affiliated to the ruling Marxists halted the culling operations for a while over a tiff with the police. Officials have sent dead poultry from a new area in the worst-hit Birbhum district and adjoining villages in Murshidabad district to confirm if these had been infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of the flu virus. “The new areas are Khargram in Murshidabad and two blocks and Rampurhat municipality area of Birbhum,” West Bengal Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rahman said. The culling was halted for some time at Margram, the worst hit area, after government health workers, affiliated to a ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) employees’ union, alleged that policemen had assaulted one of their leaders, a local television channel reported. Later Birbhum superintendent of police K.L. Meena informed that the agitation had been withdrawn and culling resumed. “The dispute has been resolved and the health workers have joined work,” he said. Anisur Rahman said yesterday morning that 8,000 birds had been culled in Birbhum district since the operation started Wednesday, and 10,000 in Balurghat area of South Dinajpur district. “The process is sluggish because the teams are not going to big farms but visiting homes and killing backyard poultry. We are beefing up the operation today,” Rahman added. The three districts now affected are Birbhum, South Dinajpur and Murshidabad. However, officials have not yet confirmed if the virus in Murshidabad is of the H5N1 strain. They have sent samples to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal for confirmation. As a result, no culling has started in Murshidabad yet. The affected areas in the district adjoin Birbhum. The bird flu scare has also spread to South 24 Parganas district adjoining Kolkata besides other south Bengal districts like Hooghly, Nadia and Burdwan from where reports of poultry deaths are pouring in. Culling began on Wednesday morning for an estimated 378,000 chickens and ducks as the state’s poultry owners urged people not to panic but to treat chickens as complete untouchables. According to the magistrates of Birbhum and South Dinajpur, the toll of poultry birds from the disease in the two districts rose to 55,000 in the past two weeks. To carry out the culling, masked men in protective gear appeared like aliens in many areas where awareness about the disease is almost nil. “We have cooked and eaten our chickens because we heard they would have been killed by the government officials anyway. We have not heard much about the symptoms of the disease,” said Lakhu Sheikh of Tentulia village in Rampurhat Block 2 in Birbhum, about 250 km from Kolkata. Tentulia is one of the villages where people resisted culling Wednesday. Many villagers are also smuggling out their poultry and hiding them, health workers said. A central health ministry team, including its additional director general and the joint secretary, is arriving in Kolkata to assess the situation and hold talks with the state health officials, Rahman said. While in some villages there is resistance, in most areas people brought hens, ducks and eggs and collected compensation slips at the rate of Rs.40 per big hen and duck and Rs.30 each for the smaller ones. Officials said in Birbhum, about 55 awareness teams were formed to inform people about bird flu and identify sick birds. Control rooms have been set up in each block of the affected regions under the supervision of the Additional Chief Secretary of West Bengal Kalyan Bagchi and Animal Resource Development Director Dilip Das. The border with Bangladesh has been sealed in the affected areas, especially in South Dinajpur, which shares a long border with the neighbouring country. As the news about the deadly avian flu spread, the demand and prices for chickens nose-dived in Kolkata markets. West Bengal Poultry Welfare Association assistant secretary Najrul Islam said that poultry farm owners would hold a press conference with the animal resources development minister to dispel unfounded apprehensions about the virus. “We are also taking care so that the infection does not spread any further. We are providing medication and trying to disinfect the poultry farms,” Islam said. West Bengal is the fifth state in the country to have been struck by the H5N1 strain of bird flu since the first outbreak in Maharashtra in February 2006, and in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Manipur. In Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, about a million birds had to be culled in 2006 after the presence of the H5N1 virus was confirmed. The virus causes a type of influenza in birds that is highly contagious and can be deadly. It does not usually infect people unless they come in close contact with infected birds or contaminated surfaces. Avian influenza experts say speed in extinguishing the outbreak is crucial. The state government would need to prevent the movement of poultry out of the affected area, they stressed.

Article from: Bahrain Tribune Newspaper- www.BahrainTribune.com

[HenryN]

Fresh cases of bird flu deaths


Special Correspondent







NEW DELHI: Even as 11,225 poultry birds were culled and 5,877 eggs and 1,218 kg of poultry feed destroyed on Thursday in the bird flu-affected districts of West Bengal, fresh cases of unusual mortality were reported from two blocks of Murshidabad district and one block each of Nadia, Bardhaman and Parghana districts. This put pressure on the West Bengal government to take urgent steps to contain the situation and step up surveillance.
Assistance


The Central government has assured all assistance to the State in terms of expertise, equipment and funds. Union Animal Husbandry Commissioner, S.K. Bandyopadhyay, who is the Chief Veterinary Officer , has rushed to the affected areas to assess the situation.
The total number of unusual deaths of poultry birds has been put at 61,075 in the affected districts of Birbhum, Dakshin Dinajpur and Murshidabad, according to the Department of Animal Husbandry.
The situation is being closely monitored and the State government has been asked to take steps for containment and surveillance, said a senior official.
These deaths are being investigated by the State. Action is also being taken to collect samples and take them to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, Bhopal.
Rapid Response Teams


Sources said 58 Rapid Response Teams were carrying out culling operations in Birbhum district; 26 teams were on the job in Dakshin Dinajpur district.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/t.../01/18/&prd=th&

[Extrapolation]

Originally Posted by Treyfish

Culling begins in Bengal

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

(snip)

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.”

(snip)

India has been on high alert ever since bird flu was detected in neighbouring Bangladesh in December.

Consider the additional rolling dice (opportunity for further, expedited reassortment/recombination/mutation [take your pick] - with the "potential millions of Indian citizens" consuming (eating) these at least suspect H5N1 infected - dead poultry - daily.

This would seem to me to be of grave concern for all. IMHO.

[Shannon]

Birds only started dying en masse early yesterday. Typically it takes 2 days before symptoms appear in humans. If there are cases they won't show up until tomorrow or the next day.

[AlaskaDenise]

from post #113:

Sources said more than 25 crows died in Khagra crematorium area in Berampore in the last two days and that samples had been sent for tests.

While those crematoriums are "electric", given the Indian tradition of body disposal by vultures, IF those bodies were exposed to crows prior to cremation........those may have been human cases.

.

[Shannon]

Yet another reason to be aware of cultural differences.

[HenryN]

Bird deaths trigger panic in Kolkata
18 Jan 2008, 0313 hrs IST,TNN

SMS NEWS to 58888 for latest updates

KOLKATA: The city is in the grip of a bird flu scare, with reports of birds dying in Sealdah and Kalighat triggering the alarm bells. There are no signs that the H5N1 virus has reached Kolkata but panic-stricken residents shunned poultry products in spite of the prices hitting rock bottom. Even small eateries took chicken off the menu. With the marriage season on, small retailers have been dealt a body blow. The scare in Kolkata was triggered by news of a chicken dying in Sealdah’s Baithakkhana Market. Though a civic team said the dead bird had no signs of avian flu, Prasenjit Chowdhury, who owned of the shop, downed shutter. Within minutes, the chicken market was deserted and the ripple effect was felt throughout the city. "Sales crashed by 70% on Thursday. It is likely to dip further in the coming days," said Dipendu Kotal, a meat shop owner. Prices dropped to Rs 60 a kg or even less, but people wouldn’t venture near any chicken stall. "To make it worse, some television channels repeatedly showed footage of the dead chicken though it had nothing to do with the bird flu outbreak. If the media keeps highlighting things in such a negative aspect, all of us will be ruined," said another meat shop owner. There is no reason to panic, said Amal Kanti Mazumdar, deputy director of the state poultry farm in Tollygunge, the largest and oldest in the state. "On an average, 15 to 50 chickens die every day in the farm due to age or an egg getting stuck while being laid. This doesn’t mean they are infected. Moreover, not even a single fowl died at the poultry on Thursday. There is no cause for fear. People need not stop having chicken," he said. A team from Kolkata Municipal Corporation went to Baithakkhana but couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. They visited 10 other markets, including New Market. The Tollygunge poultry farm, which has 15,000 chickens, 300 turkeys and 300 quails, has restricted entry of outsiders and is checking its livestock twice a day. Every individual or vehicle entering the place is being disinfected. "Protection gear has been issued to those handling the fowls. Disinfectant like bleaching powder and soda ash has been sprayed all over the campus," said Mazumdar. The farm is trying to stop contamination in every possible way. Dry leaves are being raked in and burnt so that the smoke can scare away crows and other birds, reducing the risk of outside contamination. "They are the major carriers of infection. No one knows where the birds are migrating from. We have to take every precaution to prevent crows from reaching the chickens through the cages," said Mazumdar. The poultry farm is sending 5,000 fowls to Midnapore on Friday. "Till now, no abnormalities have been reported. Residents in the vicinity of a poultry farm need not panic. Only those handling the birds have to take any precaution," assured Mazumdar.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/r...,prtpage-1.cms

[Shannon]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryP...2-774bc7ed2b6c

November 4, 2006


Sanchita Sharma, Hindustan Times
Email Author
New Delhi, January 18, 2008
First Published: 03:04 IST(18/1/2008)
Last Updated: 03:08 IST(18/1/2008)



Even water can carry bird flu


The dreaded H5N1 bird flu virus — whose outbreak has been confirmed in West Bengal — is more infectious than previously thought, according to World Health Organisation experts.
The virus can travel by sticking to surfaces, get kicked up in dust and feed to infect people and contaminate ponds and lakes, the experts said in a report published in The New England Journal of Medicine. This is a cause of worry for India, as ponds and catchments are sources of water in several villages.

In India, the WHO sounded another alert, saying the Bengal outbreak was more serious than the previous outbreaks in Maharashtra and Manipur. “More serious risk factors are associated with this current outbreak than previously encountered, including that the affected areas are more widespread and because of proximity to extended border areas,” said a WHO expert in India.
For the journal, the WHO team reviewed all known human cases of bird flu, which has infected 350 people in 14 countries and killed 217 since 2003. It found that 25 per cent of cases had no explanation. Most are passed directly from bird to people, and rarely one person can infect another — always via intimate physical contact.
“For some patients, the only identified risk factor was visiting a live-poultry market. In one quarter or more of patients with influenza A (H5N1) virus infection, the source of exposure is unclear, and environment-to-human transmission remains possible,” wrote study leader Dr Frederick Hayden.
"Eating well-cooked chicken cannot infect people, but ingestion of virus-contaminated products or swimming or bathing in virus-contaminated water might pose a risk," he wrote.
Although birds in over 60 countries have been infected with the H5N1 strain, people have rarely got infected. "After exposure to infected poultry, the incubation period generally appears to be 7 days or less, and in many cases this period is 2 to 5 days," the report said.

H5N1 infection usually causes severe pneumonia. On the symptoms, the experts wrote, "It is unknown whether influenza A (H5N1) virus infection can begin in the human gastrointestinal tract." "In several patients, diarrheal disease preceded respiratory symptoms, and virus has been detected in feces," they wrote.
The experts feared that H5N1 might mutate or combine with seasonal influenza virus and spark a pandemic that could kill millions of people.
The virus kills within 9 to 10 days and has killed 61 per cent of infected people since 2003.
Since the viruses do not commonly infect people, there is little or no immune protection against them in the human population.

Quick use of antiviral drugs can save lives, with oseltamivir (brandname Tamiflu) being the drug of choice.



http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=3135966b-6c82-4d9c-8fd2-774bc7ed2b6c
© Copyright 2007 Hindustan Times

[HenryN]

Commentary at

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

[HenryN]

Bird flu graver than ever: Expert

OUR BUREAU

Jan. 17: The bird flu outbreak in Bengal is the most serious the country has seen and threatens to mirror the prolonged crisis faced by Bangladesh, Thailand and Vietnam, experts and the World Health Organisation warned today. Two factors make Bengal more favourable for fast spread of the H5N1 virus than the four other states affected in the past two years, an expert said. One, Bengal has more water bodies and marshland than Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh or Manipur. Two, its dense poultry population. “Ducks and waterfowl in these water bodies might serve as virus carriers,” the expert said. The fear is that waterfowl will pick up the virus from infected poultry and transmit it to more poultry. “This is one factor behind the persistence of the virus in Thailand and Vietnam,” the expert said. Bangladesh, as swampy a country as any, has reported 64 outbreaks in the past one year. An official in Delhi said Bengal had a higher density of poultry than the other four states. “The human population density is also higher.” The WHO added two more reasons. “More serious risk factors are associated with this current outbreak than previously encountered, including that the affected areas are more widespread and (close to) border areas,” PTI quoted it as saying. Burwan in Murshidabad and Nanoor in Birbhum joined the list of affected areas today, taking the count of confirmed bird flu-hit districts to three (see chart). Over 61,000 poultry birds have died in these districts. The WHO stressed “public information and education”, but villagers seemed unaware of the risk in worst-hit Birbhum, where the disease has been confirmed in eight blocks and deaths reported in two more, Bolpur and Luvpur. “Thousands are in danger…. They are handling and eating diseased and dead chicken,” said Bengal animal resource development director Dilip Das. At Majharipara in Mayureswar I, villagers had dumped dead chicken in a field where children played with their feathers, putting them inside their mouths. Badal Tadu, an adult, was cooking a dead hen because “I was given it free”. Jiten Led was dressing another with bare hands: “We’ll have it for dinner tonight.” “Although 85 per cent of the birds have died here, there has been no awareness camp,” said Jamir Ali. “Health officials passed through the village twice but spoke to no one.” Authorities have warned people not to handle sick or dead poultry with bare hands. The culling teams achieved only 60 per cent of the day’s target of 25,000, suggesting the current overall target of 3.31 lakh would take over 20 days. But a central official said Bengal had promised to finish the job in five-six days. Bengal animal resource minister Anisur Rahman denied reports that the state had woken up late to the outbreak. He blamed the Centre, saying it had “a couple of months ago” announced that India was free of bird flu. http://www.birdflubreakingnews.com/t...ry_8797624.jsp

[HenryN]

India Investigates Deaths Of Hundreds Of Birds
Government health officials in India are investigating hundreds of bird deaths in the eastern part of the country to determine if a recent bird flu outbreak that killed 54,000 birds has spread to new areas of the country.

The dead birds were found yesterday in four districts of West Bengal state, causing officials to issue new areas under watch for the H5N1 bird flu virus. These include Nadia, Murshidabad, Burdwan and South 24 Parganas districts in West Bengal state.

Anisur Rahman, state minister of animal husbandry, told Associated Press the symptoms in the new bird deaths did not indicate the deaths were caused by bird flu, but rather by a virus called Ranikhet, a fatal and contagious disease found in local birds. The Ranikhet virus has no history of affecting humans.

“But we are not taking chances and have sent samples to laboratories for testing for bird flu,” he said.

No human deaths or suspicious illnesses have been reported in the region where the dead birds were found.

Authorities began culling chickens yesterday, after India confirmed that birds in the two West Bengal districts had the H5 virus. The government is working to confirm whether or not it was of the dangerous N1 strain. Approximately 400,000 chickens in the affected area are being slaughtered, and officials are also going door-to-door looking for people with symptoms of H5N1 bird flu, including fevers and respiratory symptoms.

Although the virus is hard to contract in humans, scientists worry it may mutate into a form that is easily transmitted among people. Such a mutation could potentially spark a pandemic. To date, most human cases of bird flu have been linked with direct contact with infected birds.

In 2006 an outbreak of H5N1 struck the western part of the country, but after hundreds of thousands of chickens were slaughtered India declared the country free of the bird flu. No human cases were reported in the outbreak. A smaller outbreak occurred in the Northeastern part of the country that was also contained.

Bird flu has been found in over 60 countries, and is entrenched in several countries such as Indonesia, Egypt and Nigeria. The World Health Organization reports that over 200 human deaths from the disease have occurred worldwide.

---

On the Net:

World Health Organization

Story from REDORBIT NEWS:
http://www.redorbit.com/news/display/?id=1220005

[hawkeye]

Bengal bird flu source lies in Bangladesh
Siliguri, January 18, 2008
First Published: 02:50 IST(18/1/2008)
Last Updated: 02:52 IST(18/1/2008)

Bangladesh has been identified as the source of outbreak of bird flu in south Dinajpur, one of the two affected districts in West Bengal, a senior Animal Husbandry official said.

“The germs were brought by winds blowing from Bangladesh,” Assistant Commissioner of the Central Animal Husbandry Department Sujit Dutta said in Balurghat, the headquarters of south Dinajpur.

Dutta said that the Centre is constantly monitoring the situation in the district. The BSF guarding the Indo-Bangla border in the district has been alerted to ensure that no poultry products could enter from Bangladesh, said Inspector General of Police R.J.S. Nalwa.

However, there are reports on Thursday of spreading of the dreaded bird flu virus among chickens to new areas of Birbhum and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal.

Considering the serious implication of the situation, the Union Health Ministry has directed the West Bengal government to adopt quarantine measures to prevent transport of people, animals and birds from the bird flu-hit areas of Birbhum and South Dinajpur districts.

The West Bengal government has set a target of culling 3.76 lakh birds. Many poultry owners in Birbhum had sent their birds for sale outside the affected area despite there being a ban on movement of poultry, reports from the districts said.

Meanwhile, P Krishnan, heading a high-level delegation of the Union Health Ministry, said: “There is no cause for panic as the deadly virus has not infected any human as yet.”

Assam on high alert

Alarmed by the outbreak of bird flu in neighbouring West Bengal, a health alert on avian flu has been sounded in all the bordering districts of Assam to prevent the spread of the disease in the state.

The alert was sounded in Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Goalpara and Bongaigaon districts after a confirmation about the outbreak of birdflu in West Bengal, a senior official of the animal husbandry and veterinary department said.

WHO: outbreak is serious

The dreaded H5N1 bird flu virus is more infectious than previously thought, said World Health Organisation experts in The New England Journal of Medicine, creating worldwide panic. It can travel by sticking to surfaces, get kicked up in dust and feed to infect people, or contaminate ponds and lakes used for swimming or bathing, says the report.

Army in East bans chicken

The bird flu outbreak across West Bengal compelled the army on Thursday to order a ban on the supply of chicken to troops in the state to rule out the possibility of soldiers getting infected by the virus.

Lieutenant General Narayan Mohanty, Director General, Remount Veterinary Services, told the Hindustan Times, “We do not want to take any chances with the health of troops. Instructions have been issued to the Eastern Command to ban chicken.”

(With inputs from PTI)

[AlaskaDenise]

Originally Posted by niman

Commentary at

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

Commentary

Suspect H5N1 Wild Bird Deaths Along Indian Bangladesh Border

Recombinomics Commentary 23:50
January 16, 2008

Crows and hawks dying with bird flu symptoms in some areas of the bird flu-hit districts of Birbhum, Murshidabad and South Dinajpur have raised fears that the killer disease may spread to other districts, even Kolkata.

The above comments indicate dead wild birds are associated with the outbreak in South Dinajpur. Initial reports of the outbreak in Birbhum mentioned dead crows, eagles and pigeons. Video of the outbreak showed large numbers of dead crows, raising concerns that sealing the border with Bangladesh would do little to halt the spread of H5N1.

H5N1 is highly suspected in the outbreak in adjacent Murshidabad (see satellite map), and dead crows were also linked to that outbreak. Moreover, although the border has been sealed, new reports of H5N1 outbreaks in adjacent regions on both sides of the border continue to be reported. The outbreak in South Dinajpur was followed by an outbreak across the border in Rajshahi.

Similarly, the outbreak in Birbhum was followed by an outbreak in Jessore.

On the West Bengal side of the border, excessive bird deaths have been reported in multiple districts to the south, which could also be linked to infections in resident birds.

India’s history of detection of H5N1 in wild birds has been poor. H5N1 infected long range migratory birds have been detected at Qinghai Lake in 2005 and 2006. Birds from Qinghai Lake winter on the northern plains of India, yet not H5N1 has been reported, even though poultry workers had H5 antibodies long before H5N1 infections in India were reported.

The outbreak in domestic poultry also appears to have been missed at its early stages. The OIE report indicates the outbreak started January 4, 2008, but local villagers said domestic poultry began to die on December 18.2007.

Now the H5N1 appears to have reach critical mass, and is rapidly spreading along the length of the Indian / Bangladesh border.

.

[HenryN]

AVIAN INFLUENZA (14): INDIA (WEST BENGAL)
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: Thu 17 Jan 2008
Source: NDTV Com [edited]
<http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080038759>


The dreaded bird flu has spread to new areas of Birbhum and
Murshidabad districts of West Bengal, even as culling of the birds in
places affected by the disease continued at a slow pace.

An alert was sounded in neighbouring Bihar and Assam.

Amid the alarm bells, the Centre asked the West Bengal government to
take immediate corrective steps to stop the spread of the disease.

"We have asked the West Bengal government to take corrective action
in every city and village," Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told
reporters in Delhi.

The minister claimed that there was no major impact on the market.
The Health Ministry asked the state to adopt quarantine measures to
prevent transport of people, animals and birds from the bird-flu-hit
areas of Birbhum and south Dinajpur.

The fallout was felt in neighbouring Bhutan, which banned import of
poultry and poultry products from India for an indefinite period. The
ban came into effect on Wednesday [16 Jan 2008].

Bangladesh has been identified as the source of the outbreak of bird
flu in south Dinajpur, one of the 2 affected districts in West
Bengal, a senior Animal Husbandry official said.

"The germs were brought by winds blowing from Bangladesh," Assistant
Commissioner of the Central Animal Husbandry department Sujit Dutta
said in Balurghat, the headquarters of south Dinajpur [HPAI virus
introduction by winds, though not impossible, seems rather remote;
more likely, the virus might have spread by infected animals or
contaminated humans, utensils or animal feed. Such breaches of
biosecurity call for enhanced control measures. - Mod.AS].

Dutta said that the Centre is constantly monitoring the situation in
the district.

The BSF guarding the Indo-Bangla border in the district has been
alerted to ensure that no poultry products could enter from
Bangladesh, Inspector General of Police (North Bengal) R J S Nalwa said.

The administration of Siliguri subdivision of Darjeeling district has
decided to immediately stop import of chickens, chicks and eggs to
Siliguri from outside and continue checks for sick birds, SDO Smita
Pandey said.

Culling operations continue for the 2nd day on Thursday [17 Jan 2008]
in Bengal. Close to 9000 birds were culled on Wednesday [16 Jan 2008]
by the Rapid Response Teams in the core districts of Birbhum and Dinajpur.

The impact of the bird flu scare has spread far beyond the state
capital Kolkata. They have a target of culling 3.5 lakh [350 000]
birds in the next 10 days.

Chicken has been taken off the menu on all flights leaving Kolkata.
The capital is on guard, with the government doing whatever it can to
make sure there is no spread of infection, but Chief Minister Sheila
Dikshit has said there is no need to panic.

Ghazipur Mandi in East Delhi is the largest wholesale poultry market
in the city. And with the bird flu scare in the air, efforts are on
to make sure there is no infection here. Five veterinary experts have
been put on duty to certify all chicken as fit for sale.

The government claims to be taking all precautionary steps to prevent
the virus from entering Delhi and that they are being supported by
traders and shopkeepers who suffered severe losses 2 years back when
the bird flu scare hit the capital.

''As a precaution, we have got the powders and spray for the
cullination of chicken so that it is not used by anyone. This all is
being done in the supervision of our doctors. You can see, we are
already on the site. We will help people in any which way,'' said
Babu Khan Salmani, Health Official, Delhi Government.

The government has issued a set of do's and don'ts to shopkeepers
selling poultry products and also warned of surprise checks.

[Byline: Deepti Sachdeva]

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall

[On 15 Jan 2008, India submitted to the OIE an official "immediate
notification" on the outbreaks. See
<http://www.oie.int/wahid-prod/public.php?page=single_report&pop=1&reportid=6678>.
- Mod.AS]

[see also:
Avian influenza (11): India (West Bengal) 20080115.0193
2007
----
Avian influenza, human (117): India (Manipur), NOT 20070804.2530
Avian influenza, human (115): India (Manipur), susp., RFI 20070801.2487
Avian influenza (133): India (Manipur): conf., OIE 20070726.2409
Avian influenza (131): India (Manipur), RFI 20070718.2303
Avian influenza (87): Nigeria, India (RFI), Pakistan 20070526.1680
vian influenza (80): India (West Bengal), susp 20070508.1485
Avian influenza (58): Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia 20070322.1008
Avian influenza, human (168): Indonesia, Greece (ex India), susp 20061020.3017
2006
----
Avian influenza, human, worldwide (54): China, India 20060427.1228
Avian influenza, human, worldwide (53): India, susp 20060426.1210
Avian influenza - worldwide (78): Germany, P.A., India 20060405.1018
Avian influenza, human - worldwide (13): India, Malaysia, Nigeria 20060222.0575
Avian influenza, human - worldwide (12): Egypt, India 20060221.0566
Avian influenza - worldwide (26): Egypt, India, OIE 20060220.0562
2005
----
Avian influenza, H5N1, 2002 - India (Tamil Nadu): RFI 20050513.1312]
.................................................. arn/msp/dk

[HenryN]

Originally Posted by niman

AVIAN INFLUENZA (14): INDIA (WEST BENGAL)
*******************************************
"The germs were brought by winds blowing from Bangladesh," Assistant
Commissioner of the Central Animal Husbandry department Sujit Dutta
said in Balurghat, the headquarters of south Dinajpur [HPAI virus
introduction by winds, though not impossible, seems rather remote;
more likely, the virus might have spread by infected animals or
contaminated humans, utensils or animal feed. Such breaches of
biosecurity call for enhanced control measures. - Mod.AS].

Wings work.

[AlaskaDenise]

And blowing winds are a breach of biosecurity. !

.

[Dutchy]

Originally Posted by AlaskaDenise

from post #113:

While those crematoriums are "electric", given the Indian tradition of body disposal by vultures, IF those bodies were exposed to crows prior to cremation........those may have been human cases.

.

Crows tend to roam around, visit places they know they can find food.

If dead crows are found somewhere, it could mean the ate something elsewhere.

If the crows die at places where people come, they can be more easily found and/or they get more attention? May be more dead crows on other places, and no one bothers or not found?

[AlaskaDenise]

We have lots of crows and Ravens here. They tend to congregate near restaurant garbage bins, various food producers, and dying large wild animals. Most that I've seen tend to consume their food at or near where it's found.

BTW - the Raven is a revered bird in native culture. They are one smart bird.


.

[HenryN]

Kolkata: Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today described the bird flu outbreak in the state as "alarming", even as panic gripped Kolkata following the death of some birds in the city.

Amid reports of slow pace of culling operations in Birbhum and South Dinajpur districts, the chief minister said the state government had set a target of culling four lakh poultry in the affected areas.

The Rampurhat sub-division of Birbhum district was the worst affected, followed by Balurghat in West Dinajpur district, he said.

Bhattacharjee said it had been decided that poultry in the 5-10 km radius of the affected areas would be culled and the process would be completed within seven days.

Dead birds --- crows and owls --- were found in Kolkata's southern and eastern parts today causing fresh fears as a civic team moved around the metropolis to collect bird carcasses.

"We will tell the state health department to assess whether the deaths are unusual," a Kolkata civic department official said. Shopkeepers had downed the shutters yesterday following reports of death of caged birds.

http://www.mid-day.com/web/guest/new...T_5_groupId=14

[HenryN]

Bird flu outbreak alarming: West Bengal CM


CNN-IBN


Published on Fri, Jan 18, 2008 at 16:28 in Nation section

Tags: Bird Flu, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee , Kolkata

E-mail this report | Print this report








TAKING A STEP: Bhattacharjee said it would take a week for culling operations to end.


Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has admitted that the bird flu situation in the state is alarming and said that the compensation has not reached the people whose chickens were culled.

"It is alarming but not yet a reason to panic," Bhattacharjee said.

"We not started giving them compensation. So they are anxious whether they will at all get the compensation. But as I have already told you that we have sanctioned Rs 3 crore. A minister is going there and he himself will hand over the check," he added.

After an emergency meeting in Kolkata on Friday, Bhattacharjee said it would take a week for culling operations to end.

He said no case of human infection had been reported yet. The CM said the government would start culling in any area that reported chicken deaths.

The Union Health Ministry has already admitted that there is a lack of awareness about the virus in West Bengal. It has asked for more warnings to be put out in print, on TV and radio.

Even World Health Organisation has expressed concern over the fast-spreading bird flu virus and demanded stringent action.

Poultry is being culled in Birbhum and South Dinajpur districts over the last two days to control the spread of the virus.

Bird flu has already spread to a few more districts of the state after it was reported from the districts of Birbhum and South Dinajpur.

But it is tough to convince people on the ground that culling needs to be done and that too quickly.

After two days of culling operations in Birbhum, the toughest job for health officials is convincing locals that they have to let the birds be killed to prevent bird flu from spreading.



http://www.ibnlive.com/news/bird-flu...m/56831-3.html

[AlaskaDenise]

Bengal To Step Up Culling To Combat Bird Flu (Lead)

Friday 18th of January 2008
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya Friday said the state government would slaughter all poultry birds in areas reporting fresh cases of avian flu even before laboratories confirm the H5N1 strain, after the World Health Organization (WHO) said the current outbreak was the most serious in the country yet.

'So far we have been able to kill 40,000 birds. In the next seven days we will kill all birds (an estimated 400,000) by increasing the number of health and animal resource development (ARD) workers,' Bhattacharya told reporters here.

'Our worst affected areas are Rampurhat subdivision in Birbhum district and Balurghat in South Dinajpur, where deaths occurred in government farms.

'But there are reports from Khargram and Baroa in Murshidabad besides Nadia and Burdwan. So we have decided to kill all birds in the new areas even before confirmation from the laboratories,' Bhattacharya said.

'Wherever we will hear of new infections, we will kill birds. There are at the moment sixty teams comprising five workers each. We will increase the manpower,' he said at state secretariat Writers' Building.

There were reports of fresh bird flu cases in West Bengal Friday as the culling operation proceeded at a sluggish pace at best and WHO warned the outbreak was the worst seen in the country.

Adding to the panic were reports of crows falling dead in Murshidabad district where the avian flu is feared to have spread.

Three days after bird flu was confirmed in the state, the chief minister held an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the situation. Central health ministry officials were also present at the meeting.

Meanwhile, according to reports from districts, the culling operation was ham handed with blood soaked gunny bags stuffed with dead chicken found in drains in Rampurhat area of Birbhum.

Members of the Rapid Response Teams carrying out the culling had allegedly left the bags behind.

As panic about the bird flu spread, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) officials toured the city's markets and assured people that the chicken being sold was absolutely safe for consumption.

'We have found nothing negative. They are absolutely safe,' KMC chief medical officer Debdwaipayan Chatterjee said.

The H5N1 virus causes a type of influenza in birds that is highly contagious and can be deadly. It does not usually infect people unless they come in close contact with infected birds or contaminated surfaces.

.

[HenryN]

Panic in Ludhiana over bird flu

January 18th, 2008 - 8:11 pm ICT by admin
Kolkata /Ludhiana, Jan 18 (ANI): The bird flu outbreak in West Bengal has hit [COLOR=#2153aa! important][COLOR=#2153aa! important]poultry[/color][/color] traders in the northern parts of the country, and eggs and broiler chicken are being sold at throwaway prices.
The fear of the humans getting infected by the avian influenza has pushed down the sales of poultry products in Punjab.
The poultry owners are forced to sell eggs at extremely low prices. However, this has increased the demand for chicken.
“The prices of broiler have fallen to Rs 20 per kilogram for the last three to four days and due to the rumours spread by traders. However, Punjab is a very safe area in context of bird flu. But due to rumours the poultry farming is getting affected,” said Gurudev Singh, a poultry farm owner.
Putting to rest the rumours, officials said Punjab doesn’t need to be scared of the disease because of the organised poultry operations in the State.
The birds are given proper vaccination at regular intervals and in case of doubt, samples are sent to laboratories to check any outbreak of the [COLOR=#2153aa! important][COLOR=#2153aa! important]virus[/color][/color], officials said.
Meanwhile, panic has gripped poultry owners in West Bengal as they incur huge losses due to culling of thousands of poultry to contain the spread of bird flu.
Poultry owners in Margram village say their businesses have been severely hit due to the disease.
“All our poultry farms are closed. We are not getting any orders from the markets. We used to earn a lot of money by doing this business, but now that earning has stopped. Poultry farms are not running anymore. My whole earning was completely dependant on the poultry farms,” said Suchitra Ghosh, a poultry owner.
Ghosh added that though the government has announced compensation package for the affected poultry owners, it is not enough to cover their losses.
The village poultry owners estimate their losses to be about Rs. four million.
Many poor villagers foresee an uncertain future if the disease spreads.
“We are feeling scared. If the disease spreads to our area, we would be hit hard,” said Soumitra Mondal, another poultry owner.
Meanwhile, the Border [COLOR=#2153aa! important][COLOR=#2153aa! important]Security[/color][/color] Force has alerted its units in all border districts like South and North 24 Parganas, Maldah and Murshidabad, to keep a strict vigil on the people crossing from Bangladesh and all their goods and bags are being checked meticulously.
West Bengal has sealed a stretch of its border with Bangladesh. Bangladesh has been fighting to contain the spread of bird flu since March last year.
This is the fourth outbreak of the H5N1 strain in Indian poultry since 2006. (ANI)

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/..._10013387.html

[HenryN]

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01...1_Kolkata.html