Statesman News Service
KRISHNAGAR/BURDWAN, Jan. 20: Fresh reports of chicken deaths were reported today from two new places in Nadia. This comes at a time when officials are still struggling to carry out culling of the chickens in the affected areas of Tehatta-I and II and Krishnagar-I and II blocks following resistance from villagers.
According to district animal husbandry department, hundreds of chickens died of unknown disease in the villages under Taldaha-Majdiya gram panchayat in Krishnaganj block and Hatisala gram panchayat in Chapra block over the past few days.
Mr Gour Biswas, sabhapati of the Krishnaganj panchayat samity said: “I have reported the unnatural deaths of chickens in Taladaha area to authorities and urged them to take immediate action.” Chapra block administrative officer Mr Bhaba Sindhu Mondol said: “A stray dog was found dead after eating the carcasses of a few chickens which were dumped near Hatra village. I have brought the attention of the incident to the district administration.” Besides chickens, pigeons were also found dead in Muragacha near Bethuadahari Sanctuary. The district administration has sent the samples of the dead pigeons to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal.
In Katwa, poultry owners demanded immediate compensation when officials and experts went there to carry out culling of birds in the H5N1 virus affected Durmut panchayat. Only 45 birds could be culled today, though the target was 200.
This morning, when the health workers asked a poultry owner, Mr Anisur Rehman Haq, to hand over birds for culling, he opposed. About 1,000 chicks and 700 adult broiler birds in one Haq’s poultry have been affected by the virus. Mr Haq, however, said, “No blood sample was collected from my poultry and not a single bird died here. If they want me to hand over the birds, I demand on-the-spot compensation.” Following strong resistance from villagers, officials and experts had to leave the affected areas in presence of the police. The district administration will, however, carry out culling process tomorrow with the help of police and panchayat officials.
Mr Krishendu Sadhu Khan, SDO of Katwa said: “Our teams will be going to the affected area for mass culling. We will ask elected panchayat members from respective areas to convince the villagers about the need to cull the chickens.”
The administration had deployed 13 teams to the Bird flu-affected villages in Mongalkote block today to carry out culling. Each team comprises seven members, besides police personnel. Two veterinary experts from Memari and Bhatar, Dr Anarul Haq and Dr Prasanta Banerjee, were also there to help the process.
Meanwhile, the district administration received reports of the samples collected from the villages Jaggeswardihi, Bonkapasi, Baktona, Srikhanda, Napara in Durmut panbchayat area. The reports have confirmed the existance of flu. The villages under the panchayat witnessed death of more than 20,000 birds in four days.
New cases of avian flu were also reported from Jamuria and Raniganj under the Assansol sub division this evening. Almost 7,000 chickens from the Hijalgora and Pariharpur areas of Jamuria and Kunustoria, two kilometres from Raniganj and Raniganj have died over the past five days. When contacted, SDO (Assansol) Mr Alokesh Roy said that he had received information about chicken deaths from these areas.. While officials of the Assansol Municipal Corporation have inspected several markets places where chicken are slaughtered, no decision has yet been take regarding the culling of chickens.
Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths; H5N1 confirmed
NRI doctors help contain bird flu
Sumanta Ray Chaudhuri
Monday, January 21, 2008 02:10 IST
KOLKATA: They did not know each other until a few days ago, and met for the first time when they came to Kolkata to attend a seminar recently.
But the outbreak of avian flu in certain districts of West Bengal brought them closer, and all five of them are now scanning through affected districts, helping and advising people on how to avoid contamination and take medical precautions in case of contamination.
All young apprentice NRI doctors, they are pursuing higher studies in the different fields of medicine in UK, and have roots in Kolkata. They came to the city recently with the dual intention of a holiday and also to attend a local seminar.
However, during their stay, the avian flu broke out. Newspaper reports on the administration’s negligence in controlling the contamination prompted them to extend their holiday and assist in controlling the contamination.
Dr Tanish Mukherjee, the senior-most among them and currently a student of the Member of Royal College of Gynaecology in UK, was the first to take the initiative, and was soon able to convince four others to join him in the mission.
“To be frank, none of us are experts in veterinary science or have first-hand knowledge of handling the avian flu contamination. I am an apprentice gynaecologist and our team has one surgeon, one cardiologist and an orthopaedist. But we are also doctors since all of us have successfully completed MBBS, and one is an MD. So we thought we can do the minimum possible on our part, at least to alert people whose lives are under threat,” Mukherjee told DNA.
Dr Debyojoti Dey, a student of Member of Royal College of Surgery, said that they have identified places where the outbreak is most severe.
“Now we will individually go to the affected blocks and do counselling work. If the local administration helps us, it would be better. If they don’t, we will do our part. We have consulted our senior doctors in UK and have figured out the antidotes available in India, and each of us is carrying a stock of antidotes for the emergency,” Dey said. When asked whether they have approached the local administration for help, Mukherjee said that there is no point in approaching them in advance.
“When we will work in the field, the local health officers will come to know and if they feel that we are doing good work they will voluntarily assist us. All we want is some cooperation, so that there is no difficulty in doing our work,” he said.http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1146457
Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths; H5N1 confirmed
Bird flu hits TN egg production Chennai, Jan.20: Bird fly in West Bengal has severely affected the poultry owners in Tamil Nadu, as many countries have stopped buying eggs and chicken from the State and consumers avoiding poultry items for fear of infection. Namakkal district, having more than 800 farms and producing about 2.5 crore eggs was the worst hit, as egg prices had to be reduced due to the decreasing demand every day. Namakkal Zone National Eggs Co-ordination panel, held a meeting today and decided to reduce the prices by 40 paise per egg.
The chicken price had also been reduced by 25 per cent.SNShttp://www.thestatesman.net/page.new...ss=1&id=186827
Re: India sounds bird flu alert after chicken deaths; H5N1 confirmed
Bird flu spread outpaces culling in Bengal
Kolkata, Jan 21 (IANS) The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was spreading further in West Bengal, outpacing culling operations, a minister confirmed Sunday. The southern district of Bankura was the latest addition to the list of affected areas, taking to six the total number of districts in the grip of the deadly virus. "Bird flu in Saltora block of Bankura district has been confirmed by the HSADL (High Security Animal Disease Laboratory), Bhopal, while we have confirmation of the strain from new areas of the existing districts," West Bengal Animal Resource Development Minister Anisur Rahman told IANS. "Nanoor in worst-hit Birbhum district and three more blocks - Suti I, Sagardighi and Beldanga I - are added to the list," he said.
"We are increasing the number of Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) to 400 from the existing 200 to keep pace with the spread of bird flu," Rahman said.
"The culling was affected Sunday because of Muharram, but we hope to cope up with the challenge," he said.
While the minister could not spell out the exact number of poultry birds culled, he said around 130,000 chicken and ducks were culled since Wednesday when the operation began.
The state set a target of slaughtering 400,000 poultry but with the spread of the disease to new areas at least 300,000 more birds will have to be killed. The six affected districts are Birbhum, South Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Nadia, Burdwan and Bankura.
The minister said the culling was almost complete in Balurghat in South Dinajpur, about 375 km from here.
Reacting to the central government's criticism of the measures taken in West Bengal, Rahman said that the flu outbreak in Maharashtra in 2006 was in a farm.
"But here you have to deal with poultry birds in backyards. In many places, the villagers consider the poultry as part of their family and do not want to part with them.
"We are doing our best going by the fact that something like this has happened for the first time in the state," Rahman said.
Union Minister of State for Health Panabaka Lakshmi had said here Saturday: "We are not satisfied (with the measures to combat bird flu)." Although she did not specify where the state was lacking, she alleged that the compensation for poultry owners was not properly distributed.
About 100,000 poultry deaths were reported in West Bengal in the past three weeks.
Meanwhile, the forest department has decided to monitor thousands of migratory birds from Siberia and East Europe that visit the state every winter.
More officials have been posted at Santragachi Lake in Howrah, 10 km from Kolkata, where migratory birds started arriving in October.
The state government has allocated Rs.30 million for compensation to those losing their poultry birds, Rahman said.
Farmers were being handed over tokens at culling sites and asked to contact their panchayat or village block offices for the money. The payment is Rs.40 for a country chicken, Rs.30 for a broiler and Rs.10 for a chick.
While the minister claimed that culling operations had been stepped up, reports from the districts said the process was slow, often due to villagers' resistance.
But in areas where a large number of poultry birds had died of the infection, the villagers were eager to offer their chickens and ducks for culling.
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.
IANS
India Maintains Strict Vigil as Bird Flu Spreads to New Regions
By Jay Shankar and Thomas Kutty Abraham
Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- India is maintaining a ``strict vigil'' on its eastern state of West Bengal to prevent an outbreak of avian flu from infecting humans after the disease spread to two new districts, a state minister said.
The outbreak is the 10th in India since the lethal H5N1 avian influenza virus was first reported to have killed poultry there in February 2006.
``All precautionary measures have been taken,'' Anisur Rahman, West Bengal's animal resources minister, said in a telephone interview yesterday. The government has stocked hospitals with drugs, such as Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu, and health workers are raising public awareness of the possibility of infection from handling dead or sick poultry, he said.
No human cases in India have been recorded from the H5N1 strain, which world health authorities say risks becoming better adapted to humans, sparking a global pandemic. Two women died from H5N1 during the past two weeks in Indonesia, bringing to 350 the number of human cases worldwide since 2003.
``I hope that situation won't arise'' in India, Rahman said over the telephone from Kolkata.
More than three of every five human cases have been fatal, and were caused by contact with infected poultry, according to the World Health Organization. Early signs of the disease range from fever and cough to diarrhea and vomiting, researchers said in a Jan. 17 report in the New England Journal of Medicine. More than 96,000 chickens have died in an outbreak covering seven districts of West Bengal, the federal government said in a statement posted on its Web site. Fifty-two samples of poultry, duck, pigeon and crows from five districts have been sent for testing, the statement said.
Culling Chickens
The disease has spread to two new districts of Nadia and Burdwan, minister Rahman said. ``A target of culling 600,000 chickens in two districts of Birbhum and Murshidabad has been fixed. It is progressing satisfactorily in other districts of Dinajpur and Burdwan as well.''
The number of teams involved in culling will increase to 300 from 60 by today, Rahman said. There is no shortage of volunteers or personnel to cull the birds and no other birds or animals have been affected by the infection, he said.
Villagers objected to culling initially and there was a ``problem regarding the mode of compensation,'' Rahman said. The government has paid more than 40 million rupees ($1 million) as compensation to the villagers affected by the culling operations, he said. ``Due to a lack of awareness, the farmers had resisted. They are supporting us now.''
West Bengal consumes on average 13.7 million eggs daily and 1.2 million kilograms of chicken meat, or about 900,000 birds, according to Venky's (India) Ltd., the country's biggest supplier of poultry products.
Impact on Prices
``The losses are more from exports being hit rather than local consumption being affected,'' Anuradha Desai, chairman of Venky's, said in an interview. ``Consumption in West Bengal has been hit and it's largely limited to that market.''
The flu outbreak hasn't affected the demand for poultry feed or its prices as the problem is still largely localized, Desai said. ``It's unfortunate that bird flu has hit India's poultry industry again. We need to take preventive measures to ensure it doesn't reoccur,'' she said.
Prices of corn, a main source of poultry feed, declined in the local market, Desai said. Prices of corn for February delivery on the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Ltd. in Mumbai have fallen 8 percent since the outbreak was first reported on Jan. 15. The contract fell 8.50 rupees, or 1.1 percent, to 800 rupees per 100 kilograms on Jan. 19.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jay Shankar in Bangalore at Jshankar1@bloomberg.net ; Thomas Kutty Abraham in Mumbai at Tabraham4@bloomberg.net Last Updated: January 20, 2008 20:16 EST
Few villagers know anything about the dangers of avian flu
Margram is a large village in West Bengal - it is also the epicentre of the bird flu outbreak.
As I walk into the village, I can see a group of young children playing in the fields. Next to them are dead chickens.
Some of the children are picking up the dead bird's feathers to sell.
They have no idea of the dangers of touching infected birds.
Next to them, sat outside his hut, is an old man.
Anwar Hoque has his head in his hands.
As I walk past he starts shouting: "We have no help from the government - we want medicines but they are not providing us with them and we have cannot afford to buy them from the shops."
There is no sign of the flu anti-viral Tamiflu here.
Slow progress
What strikes me about this rural village is the lack of government officials.
Officials say not everyone is co-operating with the cull
Many of the 60,000 people who live here keep chickens - indeed some estimate that there were 150,000 chickens in this village before the outbreak of bird flu.
For many, poultry farming is their only source of income.
Yet very few know anything about avian flu - and there seem to be few officials on hand to provide these villagers with information.
After walking around the village for 15 minutes I finally see a team of men in protective white suits.
They are part of the culling team. The state government here in West Bengal has ordered the culling of 400,000 birds.
But progress is very slow.
The man leading this team is Dr Ramchandratta. He tells me this morning they have only killed five birds.
He is angry with the villagers and says: "They are not interested in handing over their birds and that is making life very hard for us."
In front of me, one of his team has a young chick in his hand and is surrounded by a group of children.
He kills it by breaking its neck.
'Chaotic'
As I walk away Dr Ramchandratta asks me to come back.
Local government has no experience of handling the disease
He tells me he is a "soldier of the government" and he is trying his best but people are not listening to him.
There are stories here of some villagers smuggling birds out to other areas and even of some culling teams being attacked.
It is a chaotic scene.
Just outside the village is a large yellow building. It is from here that Kakoli Mukherjee is directing operations to tackle the problem.
Sitting at her desk, she is surrounded by villagers.
She accepts that there are problems, but says: "none of us have any experience of dealing with this disease".
Avian flu is spreading across West Bengal.
As I drive out of Margram it is clear that unless the villagers and the local government start working together this problem can only get worse.
__________________
"In the beginning of change, the patriot is a scarce man (or woman), and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for it then costs nothing to be a patriot."- Mark Twain Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it. -Thomas Paine
Authorities in eastern India battling the country's worst ever outbreak of bird flu said Monday they needed to step up the slaughter of chickens and ducks to beat a spread in the virus.
Six districts in West Bengal state have reported outbreaks of avian flu among poultry, although culling teams have faced hostility from villagers and have killed just 100,000 birds out of a target of 400,000.
The state's animal resources development minister, Anisur Rahaman, said authorities now needed to nearly double that target.
"We have to cull more chickens and ducks as the disease has spread to new districts. A total of nearly 700,000 poultry would have to be culled in six districts in the next seven days," he told AFP.
"We have urged neighbouring states to send veterinary doctors to our state to control the situation," he added.
The outbreak is the third in India since 2006 and the worst so far, according to the World Health Organisation, because it is more widespread.
Residents oppose the slaughter of their birds because they want immediate compensation. Farmers have also been seen selling dead birds at cheap prices in local markets.
West Bengal state borders Bangladesh, which is also fighting a bird flu outbreak.
Humans typically catch the disease by coming into direct contact with infected poultry, but experts fear the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus may mutate into a form easily transmissible between humans.
Migratory birds have been largely blamed for the global spread of the disease, which has killed at least 200 people worldwide since 2003.
__________________
"In the beginning of change, the patriot is a scarce man (or woman), and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for it then costs nothing to be a patriot."- Mark Twain Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it. -Thomas Paine
Bird flu spreads in east India as culling slows
21 Jan 2008 04:45:17 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Bappa Majumdar KOLKATA, India, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The deadly bird flu virus spread to a new district in eastern India, as authorities said on Monday villagers' resistance to culling operations and poor health awareness was slowing efforts to stamp out the disease. The H5N1 virus was found among dead birds in Bankura district of West Bengal.
Now six of the 19 districts in the communist-ruled state have been infected with the disease. Around 20 million people live in these infected areas.
The virus was also spreading to new areas within already infected districts and the state was finding it difficult to contain the disease. "There are difficulties and the virus is moving from one place to the other," Sanchita Bakshi, the state's health services director told Reuters. "We have to take emergency measures now to tackle the situation," she added.
Culling of poultry came to a halt on Sunday in many places as Muslims, observing the first Muslim month of Muharram, refused to hand over birds for culling. Only 125,000 birds were culled since last week and officials said they would need more time to slaughter over 500,000 birds.
Many farmers were still dumping dead birds in lakes and ponds, ignoring repeated warnings by health workers. "The villagers are unaware of the dangers and were using bare hands to hold sick birds, which is dangerous and can potentially spread the disease further," health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra said.
India is yet to report a human infection, but health workers were watching for people with flu symptoms in the affected areas, officials said. Experts say the virus might mutate into a form easily transmitted from person to person, leading to a pandemic affecting a fifth of humanity.
Television pictures showed children playing with dead and sick chickens in Birbhum district, the epicentre of the fourth bird flu outbreak among poultry in India since 2006.
In some places, veterinarians were beaten up by villagers and thrown out of poultry farms. "How can we let them kill our healthy birds, besides we have spent all our savings to build the farm," Rahamat Ali, a poultry farm owner said by telephone from Tehatto in Nadia district.
Clearly worried at the development, the rapid response team was increased to 400, with health workers from neighbouring Assam state joining the culling operation.
Holidays of health workers were cancelled as bird deaths were reported from many areas of the state. (Editing by Alistair Scrutton)
__________________
"In the beginning of change, the patriot is a scarce man (or woman), and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for it then costs nothing to be a patriot."- Mark Twain Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it. -Thomas Paine
Meghalaya is not in West Bengal - West of Bangladesh - , it is an other State, just North of Bangladesh.
Meghalaya sends blood samples of chicken for tests
Shillong (PTI): With avian flu spreading fast in neighbouring West Bengal, Meghalaya has sent blood samples of chicken from the Indo-Bangla border area to the Bhopal-based High Security Animal Disease Laboratory for bird flu virus tests.
"We have collected the blood samples from various places along the Indo-Bangla border and have sent them for tests," Meghalaya Animal Husbandry and Veterinary director D Khonglah said here.
While ruling out any infection of birds and poultry in the state as of now, Khonglah said the government had taken adequate precautionary measures creating awareness through pamphlets.
He also said the department was examining the chicken and other poultry products which had already come in from West Bengal before the import was banned.
Frequent meetings are being held among officials and experts to see that the precautionary measures are in place.
The state has already banned entry of chicken and other poultry products from West Bengal and Bangladesh, even as additional gates have been set up along the inter-state and international borders with Bangladesh to check entry of birds into the state.
Culling operations delayed, experts from Assam to assist
Baharampur (WB) (PTI): About 100 experts from Assam will arrive here on Monday to assist in culling operations, which have been delayed even as the H5N1 virus spread to 21 blocks of six districts in West Bengal.
State Animal Resource Development Minister Anisur Rehman said that 1.65 lakh chickens were culled till yesterday though it fell far short of the targeted figure which has been raised to seven lakh from the previous target of four lakh.
Unable to give a deadline for meeting the target, the minister told PTI that "several factors were delaying culling operations."
"Lack of awareness among the villagers, resistance from the poultry owners, dearth of veterinary staff capable of carrying out culling operations are slowing down the operations," he said.
Five hundred culling teams have been deployed in the affected districts, the minister said.
The experts from Assam will be deployed in Burdwan district, he added.
The state government was mapping the extent of spread of the virus to have a better idea of the exact affected areas, he said.
All possible efforts were being undertaken to contain the spread of the virus and check its transmission to human beings, he said. Bird flu spread to Bankura, the sixth district in the state and seven blocks in Murshidabad and Burdwan districts yesterday. Poultry deaths were also reported from new areas, including Darjeeling and Coochbehar.
"An agriculture-dependent state, West Bengal occupies only 2.7% of the India's land area, though it supports over 7.8% of Indian population, and is the most densely populated state in India" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bengal). "A significant part of the state is economically backward, namely, large parts of six northern districts of Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Malda, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur; three western districts of Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum; and the Sundarbans area" (Ibid) We continue to hear the mantra that H5N1 is extremely difficult for humans to catch. With a population of 80 million (Ibid) people packed into a small area, it would appear this statement is to be put to the test.
What is the population of West Bengal? We continue to hear the mantra that H5N1 is extremely difficult for humans to catch. It would appear this statement is to be put to the test in WB.
In WB H5N1 is difficult to confirm because patients are not tested.
Signs of India bird flu spreading, official warns
(AFP)
21 January 2008
KOLKATA, India - Villagers in eastern India are continuing to eat chickens killed by bird flu and there are signs the virus may be spreading among poultry, an official said Monday.
West Bengal animal resources minister Anisur Rahaman told AFP the situation in the affected areas was ‘horrible’, and that more suspect cases had been reported on the state’s borders with Nepal and Bangladesh.
‘The ignorance of villagers is one of the main hurdles. They are carrying the dead chickens without any protective gear,’ he said.
‘Most villagers are not aware of the disease. They are eating the dead chickens. Their children are playing with the infected chickens in the courtyards. It’s horrible,’ Rahaman added.
Six districts in West Bengal state have reported outbreaks of avian flu among poultry.
People typically catch the disease by coming into direct contact with infected poultry, but experts fear the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus may mutate into a form easily transmissible between humans.
Rahaman said there were fears it could be spreading further afield in the state, with suspect poultry spotted in the hill resort of Darjeeling on the border with Nepal, and in several villages in Coochbehar bordering Bangladesh, which is also fighting a bird flu outbreak.
‘Blood samples of the dead poultry have been sent for tests. We are awaiting the report,’ he said.
The epicentre of the outbreak is Margram village, 240 kilometres (150 miles) from the state capital Kolkata.
Rahaman said authorities had so far killed 200,000 chickens and ducks, and were planning to cull 500,000 more in the next three to four days.
The outbreak is the third in India-home to 1.1 billion people-since 2006 but it has not had any human cases, although it is the worst so far because it is more widespread, according to the World Health Organisation.
Some 30 million rupees (770,000 dollars) has been set aside to compensate poultry owners-although farmers are reportedly opposing the slaughter of their birds because they want the cash immediately.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, reported another outbreak of near the border with India-taking the number of affected districts to 26 out of 64. Bangladesh government spokesman Salahuddin Khan said nearly 5,000 chickens have been destroyed around a farm in the northern district of Natore.
Authorities have slaughtered at least 355,000 chickens, ducks and pigeons since the first outbreak of the disease in February last year.
But experts have said some outbreaks may not have been reported, as farmers preferred to cover them up, fearing they might not be able to sell their birds in the market.
Migratory birds have been largely blamed for the global spread of the disease, which has killed more than 200 people worldwide since 2003.
01/21/2008 13:01
INDIA
Bird flu spreads rapidly through western Bengal
by Nirmala Carvalho
In one week, it has struck at least 6 districts. Countermeasures are being disrupted by the residents, who are blocking the destruction of poultry. In Kolkata, sales of chickens are crumbling and the airlines in the region no longer serve poultry.
New Delhi (AsiaNews) - The authorities are unable to contain the epidemic of bird flu that has struck poultry stocks in western Bengal. The contagion has extended to the district of Bankura, while there are also massive poultry fatalities in the districts of Darjeeling and Cooch Behar. Although the epidemic has been confirmed by the Laboratory for Animal Epidemics in Bhopal, in many villages the population is blocking the culling of birds. In Bankura, 30 groups were sent to eliminate the chickens in the affected zones of Khargram, Barwan, Nabagram, and Nawda. The culling of birds is already underway in the other 5 districts that have been struck: Birbhum, south Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Nadia, and Burdwan. In Kolkata last week, 122,000 birds were killed.
The government confirmed the epidemic on January 15, and immediately closed the borders with Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan. It has sent 60 rapid response groups to carry out immediate measures, and has sent experts to inspect the nearby states of Jharkhand and Bihar. At the beginning, the epidemic seemed limited to the districts of Birbhum and south Dinajpur, especially in the backyard coops. But in the following days the inhabitants of many villages opposed the killing of their poultry, a normal measure adopted to contain the contagion. The residents closed access roads and sometimes erupted into violence against the intervention teams. Anisur Rahman, western Bengal's minister for animal resources, has admitted that the culling has been suspended in a number of areas. Near the village of Margram, the epicentre of the contagion, the owners of the largest poultry farm have shut down the access roads and blocked the killing of their 30,000 chickens. In many villages, when the officials arrived the inhabitants brought their chickens inside their homes.
Meanwhile, in Kolkata sales of chickens have fallen by more than a half, and many of the airlines no longer serve chicken.
The inhabitants are asking for immediate compensation for the animals killed, in spite of the fact that Rahman has guaranteed the allocation of about 30 million rupees to reimburse them.
In India, the virus previously struck the district of Nandurbar in the state of Maharashtra in 2006, and the district of western Imphal in Manipur state in July of 2007. In both cases, the contagion remained limited to small areas. The authorities say that the infection comes from the poor regions bordering on Bangladesh and Myanmar, which have trouble containing the outbreak. The country has never suffered human infections. In recent days, in the Jessore region in Bangladesh, in the southern coastal district of Barishal on the Bengali border, the authorities have killed about 1,700 chickens to contain the infection.
Meanwhile, on January 16 the World Health Organisation, after studying the 350 official human infections in 14 countries since 2003 (with 217 deaths), has admitted the for about 25% of the infections "the cause has not been identified", and that it is possible that the transmission of the virus did not take place through birds, but "from the environment", for example through fertilisers made from bird droppings.
Kolkata, Jan 21 (IANS): More than 200,000 poultry birds have been culled in West Bengal since Wednesday to combat bird flu even as the virus spread to six districts, casting an ominous shadow on the state's socio-economic fabric.
While the industrial town of Asansol in Burdwan district, about 225 km from here, was the newest area to be added to the dubious list of the bird-flu hit, West Bengal Animal Resource Development Minister Anisur Rahman said there was no report of any fresh outbreak Monday.
"Asansol area is contiguous to other areas in Burdwan where the virus was confirmed, but we have till evening not heard of any fresh outbreak," Rahman told IANS.
"We have been able to cull more than 200,000 birds by Monday evening," he said.
The state set a target of slaughtering 400,000 poultry but with the spread of the disease to new areas, the government said at least 300,000 more birds would have to be killed.
As the spread of bird flu outpaces culling in West Bengal , the deadly virus is taking human lives even indirectly - a chicken seller committed suicide.
Reports said 28-year-old Ananda Haldar of Malda district committed suicide Sunday by jumping in front of a train. He was driven to desperation by the fall in sale of chickens.
Ananda's mangled body was found beside the railway tracks near his home in Malda's English Bazaar, about 350 km from here.
Ananda had not sold a single bird in the past five days and was depressed, his elder brother Prabhat said. Ananda had taken a loan of Rs.20,000 from a moneylender to stock up on broilers but the falling sales left him devastated.
Rahman told IANS that the government was ascertaining if the man committed suicide because of the economic fallout of the bird flu outbreak.
In Nadia district, about 170 km from here, a wedding was put on hold because the bride's family rears chickens.
The parents of the groom, identified as Sabir Ali, chickened out and informed the girl's family about their decision to postpone the wedding after poultry deaths were reported from Tehatta block in Nadia last week.
The bird flu outbreak was confirmed there after laboratory tests in Bhopal .
The teenaged girl and Sabir Ali had fallen in love a year ago and were scheduled to tie the knot Jan 24.
"The groom's family told us to get rid of the birds and stop poultry farming. They said the marriage cannot take place now as the entire block has been infected by the virus," said the girl's mother.
The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was spreading further in West Bengal , the animal resource development minister said.
The southern district of Bankura was the latest addition to the list of affected areas, taking to six the total number of districts in the grip of the deadly virus.
"Bird flu in Saltora block of Bankura district has been confirmed by the HSADL (High Security Animal Disease Laboratory) in Bhopal , while we have confirmation of the strain from new areas of the existing districts," Rahman said.
"Nanoor in the worst hit Birbhum district and three more blocks - Suti I, Sagardighi and Beldanga I - have been added to the list," he said.
"We are increasing the number of Rapid Response Teams to 400 from the existing 200 to keep pace with the spread of bird flu," Rahman said.
The six affected districts in West Bengal are Birbhum, South Dinajpur , Murshidabad, Nadia, Burdwan and Bankura.
About 100,000 poultry deaths were reported in West Bengal in the past three weeks.
The state government has allocated Rs.30 million for compensation to those losing their poultry, Rahman said.
Farmers were being handed over tokens at culling sites and asked to contact their panchayat or village block offices for the money. The payment is Rs.40 for a country chicken, Rs.30 for a broiler and Rs.10 for a chick.
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.
Saltora in Bankura district is the sixth one to have been declared hit by the bird flu so far.
At this house, several chicken have died and only a handful are left. And there are so signs of the cullers as yet.
The situation in Birbhum where bird flu was first detected is not very different.
At ground zero of the outbreak Birbhum district it's chaos.
Members of the Rapid Response Team responsible for killing poultry in affected areas as quickly as possible, completely lack any experience.
No wonder they are lagging behind.
''We have just got theatrical training. I have never really culled a chicken before. It is not possible to cull four lakh birds with this infrastructure. I am 52 years old. I am a heart patient. For me, it is extremely difficult,'' said Dilip Sarkar, Member, Rapid Response Team.
''I'm not trained. I heard that people were being hired at the BDO office and I joined in. It's difficult to do this without training,'' said Amir Sheikh, Member, Rapid Response Team.
It's an on-the-ground reality that sharply contradicts, the claims of the West Bengal government that everything is under control.
The government had planned to deploy 400 culling teams headed by a veterinary doctor each to kill 20 lakh chicken across the state in the next seven days.
But the sixth day into the operation there are still not enough hands at work. There are only 154 teams at work.
''This is the first time bird flu has the hit this area. Each family has two to three poultries. It is very difficult to cull all the chicken,'' said Anisur Rehman, Animal Resource Minister, WB.
What's also affecting the pace of the operation is the anger and fear among villagers who have neither been extended on-the-spot payment for their poultry nor preventive medicines.
In panic that they may lose their source of income, two farmers have committed suicide.
Many others are refusing to reveal the actual number of birds they have.
''I didn't know that they will come here today. We had been living in fear that they will come to my village any day. The health officials didn't give us any medicine. We're anxious to know when we will get the compensation. We are not satisfied,'' said Nishir Let, Resident, Gobindapur Village.
Even the basic awareness drive has failed to take off in these villages.
''People are still eating chicken here. They are not aware of bird flu. Most of them are illiterate. The government has failed make spread awareness,'' said Rohid Biswas, Resident, Margram Village.
As the flu spreads, is this yet another classic case of government inefficiency?
When the bird flu broke the government was caught completely off guard, even though many say there were early warnings indicating an epidemic at hand.
Now, right in the middle of the outbreak the government finds itself grappling with a huge shortage of veterinary doctors and skilled field force compounding the crisis.
Kolkata/New Delhi (PTI): Bird flu in West Bengal spread to a seventh district Malda while authorities on Monday raised the target to cull 20 lakh birds in the next one week in a desperate bid to curb the reach of the dreaded avian disease.
The human tragedy also unfolded for the first time since the outbreak of the disease a week back when a poultry seller allegedly committed suicide in Malda town. His family said the probable reason could be his inability to repay a loan since there were no takers for his birds out of panic. Central teams fanned out to neighbouring states like Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, Assam and Meghalaya to monitor the situation so that the disease does not reach their shores.
"The High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal has confirmed a positive result for avian influenza in samples from Malda district," Union Animal Husbandry Secretary Pradeep Kumar told reporters in New Delhi.
The outbreak of bird flu has so far affected Birbhum, South Dinajpur, Burdwan,Murshidabad, Nadia and Bankura.Bird deaths continued to be reported from North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Hooghly and West Midnapore districts, Kumar said.
Nearly 1.6 lakh poultry birds have been culled so far while over one lakh birds succumbed to the disease.
"All the state governments have been requested to maintain adequate surveillance and report any unusual mortality at the earliest," Kumar said.
As a confidence building measure that there was no danger in eating poultry products in unaffected areas, Health minister Suryakanta Mishra said "I have been eating chicken." Mishra said the number of culling teams would be increased to 400 with a backup from 100 experts from the Animal Husbandry department in Assam.
New Delhi, January 21: The spread of avian flu to more areas in West Bengal has invited the concern of the central government.
Joint teams of the department of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries and health and family welfare ministry have begun touring the vulnerable states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, Assam and Meghalaya. Team to Tripura and Mizoram are also begin their tour from Monday.
According to an official press release, the Bhopal-based High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) has confirmed positive results for avian influenza (H5) in respect of samples from Chachal-I block of Malda district, Nakashipara block of Nadia district and Mejia block of Bankura district in West Bengal on the basis of rapid tests.
A total of 22 samples had been sent to HSADL from North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Nadia, West Midnapur and Birbhum districts on January 20, 2008.
As per latest information received, a total mortality of 1,07,881 poultry birds was reported from Birbhum, Dakshin Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Nadia, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Burdwan and Bankura districts in West Bengal.
On January 20 about 154 rapid response teams were deployed for culling operations in West Bengal. The cumulative number of birds culled since the first confirmation of outbreak in West Bengal is 160,440. About 79,260 eggs and 2865 kg feed have been destroyed so far in all the affected areas.
This is the third year in succession, India has come under the influence of avian flu. Earlier the incidence of avian flu on poultry occurred in early 2006, in western parts of the country, and in July 2007 in Manipur, in the North Eastern part. In 2006, the poultry industry suffered an estimated loss of Rs 30,000 million, while in 2007 it was Rs 6,700 million. This time the poultry industry is face a loss of Rs 165 million a day as the prices of live birds and eggs dipped on account of the recent outbreak in West Bengal.
Last edited by hawkeye; January 21st, 2008 at 12:36 PM.
Reason: updated headline color
"..This is the third year in succession, India has come under the influence of avian flu. Earlier the incidence of avian flu on poultry occurred in early 2006, in western parts of the country, and in July 2007 in Manipur, in the North Eastern part. In 2006, the poultry industry suffered an estimated loss of Rs 30,000 million, while in 2007 it was Rs 6,700 million. This time the poultry industry is face a loss of Rs 165 million a day as the prices of live birds and eggs dipped on account of the recent outbreak in West Bengal..."
This is the process of a virus becoming endemic in an environment - something that has been going on all over the world for the last few years. More is to be expected as avian flu spreads throughout the world.
As per latest information received, a total mortality of 1,07,881 poultry birds has been
reported from Birbhum, Dakshin Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Nadia, South 24 Parganas, North 24
Parganas, Burdwan and Bankura districts of West Bengal.
The HSADL, Bhopal has confirmed a positive result for Avian Influenza (H5) in respect of
samples from Chachal-I block of Malda district, Nakashipara block of Nadia district and Mejia
block of Bankura district of West Bengal on the basis of rapid tests.
A total of 22 samples have been sent to the HSADL, Bhopal from North 24 Parganas,
South 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Nadia, West Midnapur and Birbhum districts on 20.01.2008.
On 20.01.2008, 154 Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) were deployed for culling, mopping
up and surveillance operations s per details below:
Sl.
No.
Activities of
RRTs
Birbhum Dakshin
Dinajpur
Murshidabad Nadia Burdwan Total
Till
19.01.08
On
20.01.
08
Cumulativ
e
Till
19.01.0
8
On
20.01.0
8
Cumulativ
e
Till
19.01.08
On
20.01.0
8
Cumulativ
e
Birbhum 66,566 19,09
1
85,657 8016 5,024 13040 1228 2 1230
Dakshin
Dinajpur
55,019 12,77
5
67,794 60,936 3,584 64520 1609 10 1619
Murshidabad
323 3,181 3,504 20 209 229 - 11 11
Nadia - 969 969 - 989 989 - - -
Burdwan - 2,516 2,516 - 482 482 - 5 5
Total 1,21,908 38,53
2
1,60,440 68,972 9,848 79,260 2837 28 2865
All the State Governments have been requested to maintain adequate surveillance and
report any unusual mortality at the earliest.
Joint teams of the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries and Ministry of
Health & Family Welfare are already touring the vulnerable states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa,
Assam and Meghalaya. Team to Tripura and Mizoram is also moving today.
Howrah, Jan 21: Amidst fear that the death of two migratory birds at a lake in Howrah district could have been caused by bird flu, the forest department and district administration have said it was 'natural' and there was no cause for panic.
"These birds come from the Himalayan region and some of them die due to energy loss and exhaustion. There is no reason to press the panic button. It is a natural death. We have received no report that they were affected by bird flu," Forest department sources said.
The sources said they had received a report of the death of one migratory bird at Santragachi Lake.
Every year thousands of migratory birds including lesser whistling teal, pintail, tuffted pochard, shoveller, gadwall, grey duck and comb duck visit the lake.
"This year we have the report of arrival of at least 5,000 birds at Santragachi," the sources said.
Confirming the death of two migratory birds in the last two days, District Magistrate Khalil Ahmed told PTI that the carcasses of the birds were found in the lake.
The carcasses, he said, were sent for autopsy and the cause of death would be known after receiving the report.
Snips from newsreports on bird flu in India, jan 21 2008
Most villagers are not aware of the disease. They are eating the dead chickens. Their children are playing with the infected chickens on the courtyards. It's horrible," Rahaman added.
At ground zero of the outbreak in Birbhum, the chaos continues. Those carrying out culling operations admitted to NDTV that they had very little training for the job and the scale of the operation is mind-boggling.
''People are still eating chicken here. They are not aware of bird flu. Most of them are illiterate. The government has failed make spread awareness,'' said Rohid Biswas, Resident, Margram Village.
Shillong (PTI): With avian flu spreading fast in neighbouring West Bengal, Meghalaya has sent blood samples of chicken from the Indo-Bangla border area to the Bhopal-based High Security Animal Disease Laboratory for bird flu virus tests. (Meghalaya is not in West Bengal, it is another state, just North of Bangladesh.ed)
Snips from newsreports on geografic spread of bird flu in India, jan 21 2008
Bird flu spread to Bankura, the sixth district in the state and seven blocks in Murshidabad and Burdwan districts yesterday. Poultry deaths were also reported from new areas, including Darjeeling and Coochbehar.
Bird deaths in large numbers were reported from fresh areas in three districts in West Bengal as thousands of chickens were culled for the third day on Friday to curb the spread of bird flu with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee describing the situation as "very serious."
Burdwan, Bankura and Murshidabad districts, which were previously unaffected, reported deaths of thousands of chickens though bird flu was not, confirmed there, reports from the districts said.
He said bird flu cases have been reported on Sunday by Indian media in Siliguri (Darjeeling District, ed) as well. Siliguri is just 50 km away from the border (with Nepal,ed).
Rahaman said there were fears it could be spreading further afield in the state, with suspect poultry spotted in the hill resort of Darjeeling on the border with Nepal, and in several villages in Coochbehar bordering Bangladesh, which is also fighting a bird flu outbreak.
Two migratory birds die at Santragachi lake
The carcasses, he said, were sent for autopsy and the cause of death would be known after receiving the report.
(Santragachi Lake is in Calcutta/Kolkata, ed)
Fresh samples from Bankura, Burdwan, Hooghly, Howrah, Malda, Nadia, North and South 24 Parganas have been sent to Bhopal high security animal disease lab for testing. The samples taken at random from different blocks in these districts reported the death of chickens.
At ground zero of the outbreak in Birbhum, the chaos continues. Those carrying out culling operations admitted to NDTV that they had very little training for the job and the scale of the operation is mind-boggling.
As per the latest information, a total mortality of 98,254 poultry birds has been reported from Birbhum, Dakshin Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Nadia, South 24 parganas, Burdwan and Bankura Districts of West Bengal.
"Bird flu in Saltora block of Bankura district has been confirmed by the HSADL (High Security Animal Disease Laboratory) in Bhopal, while we have confirmation of the strain from new areas of the existing districts," Rahman told IANS.
"Nanoor in the worst hit Birbhum district and three more blocks - Suti I, Sagardighi and Beldanga I - have been added to the list," he said.
Bird flu in West Bengal spread to a seventh district Malda while authorities on Monday raised the target to cull 20 lakh birds in the next one week in a desperate bid to curb the reach of the dreaded avian disease.
The outbreak of bird flu has so far affected Birbhum, South Dinajpur, Burdwan,Murshidabad, Nadia and Bankura.Bird deaths continued to be reported from North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Hooghly and West Midnapore districts, Kumar said.
The authorities are unable to contain the epidemic of bird flu that has struck poultry stocks in western Bengal. The contagion has extended to the district of Bankura, while there are also massive poultry fatalities in the districts of Darjeeling and Cooch Behar.
Cause of death not known Authorities keeping a watch
Kolkata: With six districts in West Bengal in the grip of bird flu, the death of a migratory bird at the Santragachi Jheel (a water body) in Howrah district on Sunday created a flutter.
However, there was no official explanation on the cause of death. The bird belonged to the Lesser Whistling Teal variety. “We are yet to receive reports on the samples sent to the Howrah District Veterinary Hospital,” said Sanjib Chakaraborty, District Forest Officer, Howrah.
Another bird of the same variety died on January 5 for reasons not yet known.
The bird could have died because of the weather, Mr. Chakaraborty said.
As migratory birds were also believed to be susceptible to the flu, the authorities were keeping a watch on them.
There were about 5,120 migratory birds, which included cotton teals, pin-tailed ducks, cormorants and night herons at Santragachi, according to a census conducted on January 5, 2008.
The migratory birds usually nest in the area from November to March, leaving only when the young birds learnt to fly.
Authorities at the Alipore Zoological Gardens were also keeping a close watch on the bird population, said zoo Director Subir Chaudhuri. Chicken has been taken off the diet of zoo animals.
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India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 21+
Helblindi
Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 21+
Few villagers know anything about the dangers of avian flu
Officials say not everyone is co-operating with the cull
Local government has no experience of handling the disease
), and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for it then costs nothing to be a patriot."- Mark Twain
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