By Krittivas Mukherjee
MUMBAI, Jan 23 (Reuters) - India, fighting a bird flu outbreak in poultry that threatens to get out of control, will build several new laboratories in a bid to combat delays in testing the virus and spur faster public health reponses.
As avian influenza sweeps the country's most densely populated state of West Bengal, India's only laboratory specialising in testing bird flu is dealing with many times the number of samples it can handle.
Hundreds of samples of dead birds are being sent every week to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in the central city of Bhopal to test for what the World Health Organisation says is the worst outbreak of bird flu in India.
"It has been decided to build several new laboratories especially in view of the bird flu situation now," Santanu Kumar Bandyopadhyay, India's animal husbandry commissioner told Reuters late on Tuesday. "Things are moving quickly."
While the laboratory clears the backlog, veterinary workers at potentially infected areas wait for the signal to begin culling poultry, often running the risk of the virus spreading.
Officials say new laboratories and research facilities are imperative in view of the rapid spread of the avian flu in the eastern state of West Bengal. To begin with, at least six laboratories are being built which will be of biosafety level-3 (BSL-3), or clinical and diagnostic facilities that work with potentially lethal agents.
The new laboratories will supplement the efforts of the Bhopal laboratory.
"These centres will come up at existing regional diseases diagnostic laboratories," Bandyopadhyay said.
"They will be capable of handling emergencies arising out of the avian influenza virus."
India's latest bird flu outbreak in poultry has killed thousands of birds in West Bengal where a massive operation is on to cull hundreds of thousands of fowl.
Bird flu has spread to seven of West Bengal's 19 districts and bird deaths are being reported from new areas every day.
At least 24 million people live in the affected districts, two of which have been confirmed to be infected with the deadly H5N1 strain.
India has never reported any human infection, but experts fear uninformed villagers, some of whom are still eating poultry in infected zones, could contract bird flu. They say the H5N1 strain of bird flu could mutate into a form easily transmitted from human to human, leading to a pandemic. (Editing by Alistair Scrutton and Katie Nguyen)
First Published: 12:32 IST(23/1/2008)
Last Updated: 13:47 IST(23/1/2008)
Deadly bird flu spreads to two more Bengal districts
West Bengal's unchecked bird flu epidemic spread to two more districts on Wednesday, one right on the outskirts of Kolkata and the other on the Assam border. Well over two million poultry in nine districts are now affected and will have to be culled.
West Bengal Animal Resource Development Minister Anisur Rahman confirmed to IANS on Wednesday that the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus had been found among poultry in Hooghly district, barely 30 kms from the metropolis here.
The same virus had been found in Dinhata area of Cooch Behar district on the Assam border, Rahman added.
Facing all-round criticism for the tardy pace of the culling operation that has seen the spread of the epidemic even eight days after it was announced, the state government on Wednesday said it was making spot payments to mitigate the losses of the affected rural families immediately.
"We have already disbursed Rs 45 million as compensation. We will disburse more money as and when required. The payments are being made on the spot itself or through the panchayats," West Bengal Animal Resource Development Minister Anisur Rahman told IANS on Wednesday.
Earlier, farmers were being given tokens at culling sites and asked to contact their panchayat or village block offices for compensation money. The payment is Rs 40 for a country chicken, Rs 30 for a broiler and Rs 10 for a chick.
Even before the spread of the epidemic to the eighth and ninth districts, the cull target had gone to a whopping 2.1 million.
On Tuesday, the centre's Animal Husbandry Secretary Pradeep Kumar said here that around 256,000 birds had been slaughtered and about 150 experts from other states would join the operation.
"Our concern is to find out how the disease spread from the initial outbreak in Birbhum and South Dinajpur districts," Kumar said.
The operation will be ramped up with induction of personnel from Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Orissa, Punjab and Maharashtra, officials said.
A team comprising officials from the union animal husbandry department and their counterparts from the states will monitor the possible spread of bird flu to Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and the Northeast, Kumar said.
The centre has provided the state with 5,000 sets of protective gear for the culling teams.
"More protective gear will be sent. Bird flu is a national problem," Kumar 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. All human samples tested for infection have proved negative so far.
The nine districts now in the grip of the bird flu epidemic are Birbhum, South Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Nadia, Burdwan, Bankura, Malda, Hooghly and Cooch Behar.
Several states have banned the import of chicken from West Bengal. The central government has asked the state to seal its borders with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
Agencies Posted online: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 1342 hrs IST
Kolkata, January 23:
Cooch Behar and Hoogly were on Wednesday declared bird flu hit, taking the number of affected districts in the state to nine even as authorities set a target of culling three lakh chicken daily.
Samples of chicken sent from Cooch Behar and Hooghly districts to the Highrisk Security Disease Laboratory (HSDL) in Bhopal yesterday tested positive," Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rahaman said.
"We have been informed by the Centre. Steps will be taken accordingly," he said.
"Steps are being taken to officially notify both Cooch Behar and Hooghly districts bird flu affected, for the next course of action including culling," Rahaman said.
The samples which tested positive were from Dinhata in Cooch Behar district and Balagarh in Hooghly district, he said.
There was, however, no case of humans beings being affected, the minister said.
The target of culling which was set at 20 lakh was also likely to increase, he said.
The daily target now was three lakh with 600 teams on the job from today, he said.
About 150 technical teams from eight states, including Haryana, Assam, Maharashtra, Orissa and Jharkhand would soon join to monitor the culling.
West Bengal's border with neighbouring states has already been sealed, the minister said.
Re: India3Bird flu spreads to 2 more Bengal districts
Warden Message
U.S. Consulate General
Kolkata, India
January 22, 2008 TOWN HALL MEETING ON AVIAN INFLUENZA FOR AMERICAN CITIZENS
The United States Mission is monitoring carefully the outbreak of H5N1 Avian Influenza in Eastern India. The Government of India has confirmed that the outbreak is spreading to other districts of the state of West Bengal, and unconfirmed reports have been received from districts near Kolkata.U.S. citizens should monitor local media for developments and the latest information on affected areas so that they can avoid travel to the areas with concentrations of the disease. It is also very important that U.S. citizens follow the advice of local government health officials who are responding to the outbreak.
All U.S. citizens are encouraged to practice good hygiene, such as washing hands, scrupulously cleaning food preparation areas, and fully cooking food. In addition, U.S. citizens are advised to avoid close contact with any fowl, such as chickens and ducks, to stay clear of any sick birds, and to not visit "wet" markets where poultry are slaughtered. The U.S. Consulate General in Kolkata will host a "town hall" meeting on Friday, January 25, 2008, at 2:30 PM for all U.S. citizens to answer questions regarding Avian Influenza. The meeting will take place in the Lincoln Room at the American Center, located at 38-A, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Kolkata 700 071.
While it is possible that humans will eventually contract this deadly disease, U.S. citizens in India are reminded that Avian Influenza is primarily a disease of birds. People who have contracted Avian Influenza have generally had close and prolonged contact with infected birds (usually chickens or ducks), their feces, or their blood. Human-to-human transmission has been exceptional, and has been the result of sustained, close contact with the infected individual. All U.S. citizens should consider their medium-term plans in the unlikely event that Avian Influenza ever becomes a virulent human disease, or pandemic flu. Pandemic planning information is available at www.pandemicflu.gov.
For further information on avian influenza, the U.S. Consulate suggests that you consult the U.S. Department of State's Avian Influenza Fact Sheet at http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/health/health_1181.htm, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) web site at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/index.htm. World Health Organization (WHO) guidance related to Avian Influenza is available at http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en/.
Americans living or traveling in India are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the State Department's travel registration web site, https://travelregistration.state.gov/, and to obtain updated information on travel and security within India. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the U.S. Embassy or the nearest Consulate. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency.
The U.S. Consulate in Kolkata is located at 5/1 Ho Chi Minh Sarani, Kolkata, India 700071 and can be reached by telephone at +91-33-3984-2400, by fax at +91-33-2282-2335 or via e-mail at consularkolkata@state.gov. The Consulate’s Internet home page is located at http://kolkata.usconsulate.gov. For the latest security information, Americans living traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department's Internet web site at http://travel.state.gov where the current Worldwide Caution Announcements, Travel Warnings, and Public Announcements can be found. Up to date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the United States, or, for callers outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).
Officials in the Indian state of West Bengal say that the bird flu epidemic has spread to two more of the state's 19 districts, taking the total to nine.
They say that the spread of the H5N1 virus means that even more chicken and duck will have to be killed than was originally estimated.
On Monday officials said that around 2m birds would need to be culled - a figure that will now rise. Health experts have warned that the outbreak could get out of control.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu is regarded as highly pathogenic and can also cause disease and death in humans.
However, most human victims have contracted the disease through close contact with affected birds.
There is little evidence that the virus can be transmitted easily between humans. 'Very serious'
West Bengal's Minister for animal research and development, Anisur Rehman, told the BBC there are currently 650 culling teams in the state.
They have now been ordered to extend their chicken and duck killing operation from seven to nine districts.
He said that one of the districts most recently affected, Hoogly, is close to Calcutta and contains the state's largest chicken hatchery - which has not yet been affected.
Mr Rehman said that another district recently hit by the virus, Cochbihar, is close to the border with Bangladesh.
West Bengal has sealed a stretch of its border with Bangladesh, which has been fighting to contain the spread of bird flu since March last year.
Experts in Bangladesh have warned that the outbreak of the virus is far worse than the government is reporting.
"Bird flu is now everywhere. Every day we have reports of birds dying in farms," leading Bangladeshi poultry expert MM Khan told the AFP news agency.
"Things are now very serious and public health is [in] danger," he said, alleging that farmers were reluctant to report new cases. Logistical challenge
The BBC's Amitabha Bhattasali in Calcutta says the authorities in West Bengal face the same problems, with reports of people hiding chicken and duck to stop them from being killed.
Our correspondent say the authorities face a major logistical challenge, because many of the chickens in infected areas roam around in the open and in many cases have to be chased and caught before they can be killed.
On Monday a team of officials from Delhi told the state government that the pace of the culling operation is too slow.
At the same time, the state government warned that the virus was getting "out of hand".
It has appealed to eight other Indian states - including Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu - for assistance in the culling operation.
So far only about 300,000 birds have been disposed of.
Correspondents say that the problem is made worse because many poor and illiterate farmers are sometimes misinformed about basic hygiene.
Dead birds are reported to have been dumped in village wells and ponds by people not aware of the risks from the H5N1 virus.
India's Avian Flu Outbreak Is `Serious,' WHO Says (Update1)
By Jay Shankar
Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- An outbreak of avian flu in India's West Bengal state is ``serious'' and the virus has spread rapidly to many districts, the World Health Organization's representative said.
The outbreak is the 10th in India since the H5N1 avian influenza virus was first reported to have killed poultry there in February 2006. No human cases have been recorded in India.
India has the capacity to handle the situation as the ``fundamentals of planning are sound,'' S.J. Habayeb, the organization's representative in the South Asian nation, said in an interview conducted over e-mail.
The disease has spread to more districts in West Bengal, taking the total number to nine, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said in New Delhi today. ``We are trying to control the situation.''
The government has culled 242,000 chickens since the disease was reported among poultry Jan. 15 in the eastern state, the agriculture ministry has said.
As many as 113,796 chickens have died from the virus, the ministry said in a release. Samples from six districts have tested negative. About 258 teams have been deployed for culling and surveillance operations in West Bengal, the ministry added.
`Backyard Culling'
``The main problem we are facing is culling in the backyards,'' Anisur Rahman, West Bengal's animal resources minister, said in a telephone interview from the state capital of Kolkata, also known as Calcutta. ``In other places, where the disease was reported, the farmers carried their poultry to a central farm in a village. Here, volunteers have to go to each house and convince farmers to do the culling.''
The teams, working in the villages, have gone up from 400 to 650 today, Rahman said.
``Culling is going on at a rapid pace,'' he said. ``At the same time, we are faced with a situation where poultry is being tested positive from new areas which are far-flung.''
The virus is known to have infected 351 people in 14 countries since late 2003, killing 219 of them, the Geneva-based World Health Organization said on its Web site two days ago. Indonesia has the highest number of fatalities, with 97 deaths.
Millions could die if the H5N1 virus develops the characteristics of seasonal flu and begins spreading easily between humans through coughing and sneezing.
Early signs of the disease range from fever and coughing to diarrhea and vomiting, researchers said in a Jan. 17 report in the New England Journal of Medicine.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jay Shankar in Bangalore at jshankar1@bloomberg.net .
Culling in Bihar, a neighbouring state of West Bengal
- snip -
Meanwhile, the Bihar Government has ordered culling of chicken in six panchayat areas of Katihar district adjacent to bird flu-affected Malda district of West Bengal.
The Bihar government has already banned import of poultry from the neighbouring state. "We have put a blanket ban on import of birds from West Bengal in the wake of reports of the dreaded H5N1 virus spreading there," Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who is also holding the portfolio of Animal and Fishery Resources, said.
Half of Bengal now affected by bird flu
Author: PTI Date: 23 Jan 2008 Kolkata: Cooch Behar and Hoogly were today declared bird flu hit, taking the number of affected districts in the state to nine, even as authorities set a target of culling three lakh chicken daily.
"Samples of chicken sent from Cooch Behar and Hooghly districts to the Highrisk Security Disease Laboratory (HSDL) in Bhopal yesterday tested positive," Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rahaman told PTI today.
"We have been informed by the Centre. Steps will be taken accordingly," he said.
“Steps are being taken to officially notify both Cooch Behar and Hooghly districts as bird flu affected, for the next course of action including culling," Rahaman said.
The samples which tested positive were from Dinhata in Cooch Behar district and Balagarh in Hooghly district, he said.
There was, however, no case of human beings being affected, the minister said.
The target of culling which was set at 20 lakh was also likely to increase, he said. The daily target now was three lakh with 600 teams on the job from today, he said.
About 150 technical teams from eight states, including Haryana, Assam, Maharashtra, Orissa and Jharkhand would soon join to monitor the culling. West Bengal's border with neighbouring states has already been sealed, the minister said.
In the already affected districts, the H5N1 virus was reported from more blocks in Nadia and Murshidabad districts. Nadia District Magistrate Omkar Meena said the virus spread to Haringhata and Nakhashipara blocks. An action plan was being prepared for these two areas. Culling was on in the other affected areas.
In Murshidabad district, the disease spread to Galsir-1 block, district officials said. Eight other blocks have already been affected.
In Malda, declared affected yesterday, culling could not start today because of shortage of staff, Deputy Director of Animal Resource Development department, N K **** said.
In Burdwan district, due to a dispute between the administrations of Kalna and Katwa, no action has been taken so far to control the disease in eight villages under Purbastahli block. Burdwan District Magistrate Subir Chatterjee had to intervene and ask the Katwa administration to begin culling from today.
Meanwhile, about 700 chickens died in Bardhaman town last night. While a Central team arrived in Birbhum district this morning, death of chickens was reported from Howrah district, which is unaffected so far. The district borders Kolkata.
In Cooch Behar district, the district's animal resources department sources said deaths of chicken were reported at Khalisamari of Mathabhanga-I block. ARD sources in the district said that bird deaths were reported from four blocks out of 12. These were Dinhata-I, Cooch Behar-I, Mathabhanga-I and Mekhliganj. In Haribhanga of Cooch Behar-I, carcasses of 10 migratory birds were found yesterday. The samples were sent to Kolkata.
Half of Bengal now affected by bird flu
Author: PTI Date: 23 Jan 2008 Kolkata: Cooch Behar and Hoogly were today declared bird flu hit, taking the number of affected districts in the state to nine, even as authorities set a target of culling three lakh chicken daily.
"Samples of chicken sent from Cooch Behar and Hooghly districts to the Highrisk Security Disease Laboratory (HSDL) in Bhopal yesterday tested positive," Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rahaman told PTI today.
"We have been informed by the Centre. Steps will be taken accordingly," he said.
“Steps are being taken to officially notify both Cooch Behar and Hooghly districts as bird flu affected, for the next course of action including culling," Rahaman said.
The samples which tested positive were from Dinhata in Cooch Behar district and Balagarh in Hooghly district, he said.
There was, however, no case of human beings being affected, the minister said.
The target of culling which was set at 20 lakh was also likely to increase, he said. The daily target now was three lakh with 600 teams on the job from today, he said.
About 150 technical teams from eight states, including Haryana, Assam, Maharashtra, Orissa and Jharkhand would soon join to monitor the culling. West Bengal's border with neighbouring states has already been sealed, the minister said.
In the already affected districts, the H5N1 virus was reported from more blocks in Nadia and Murshidabad districts. Nadia District Magistrate Omkar Meena said the virus spread to Haringhata and Nakhashipara blocks. An action plan was being prepared for these two areas. Culling was on in the other affected areas.
In Murshidabad district, the disease spread to Galsir-1 block, district officials said. Eight other blocks have already been affected.
In Malda, declared affected yesterday, culling could not start today because of shortage of staff, Deputy Director of Animal Resource Development department, N K **** said.
In Burdwan district, due to a dispute between the administrations of Kalna and Katwa, no action has been taken so far to control the disease in eight villages under Purbastahli block. Burdwan District Magistrate Subir Chatterjee had to intervene and ask the Katwa administration to begin culling from today.
Meanwhile, about 700 chickens died in Bardhaman town last night. While a Central team arrived in Birbhum district this morning, death of chickens was reported from Howrah district, which is unaffected so far. The district borders Kolkata.
In Cooch Behar district, the district's animal resources department sources said deaths of chicken were reported at Khalisamari of Mathabhanga-I block. ARD sources in the district said that bird deaths were reported from four blocks out of 12. These were Dinhata-I, Cooch Behar-I, Mathabhanga-I and Mekhliganj. In Haribhanga of Cooch Behar-I, carcasses of 10 migratory birds were found yesterday. The samples were sent to Kolkata.
First Published: 20:44 IST(23/1/2008)
Last Updated: 21:14 IST(23/1/2008)
W Bengal admits falling behind in bird flu battle
West Bengal admitted on Wednesday it was falling behind in its battle against bird flu as the virus spread to more than half the densely populated state.
Despite reinforcements from neighbouring states, at least 1,000 more vets and doctors were needed to help fight the poultry virus outbreak that began over a week ago, state animal resources minister Anisur Rahaman said.
"We don't have the infrastructure to battle this epidemic. Bird flu is spreading to new areas. Thousands of chickens are dropping dead every day," he told AFP.
Hundreds more culling teams had been sent to 10 districts where bird flu had been confirmed, but not all of them were accompanied by doctors, he said. West Bengal has 19 districts.
"We've asked neighbouring states to send at least 1,000 veterinary and human doctors," said Rahaman. "We've urged the federal government to send expert teams and doctors to assess the situation and help the culling teams."
The previous target of culling two million birds had been raised to 2.2 million "in the next seven days as the disease has spread to two more districts," he said. Nearly 400,000 birds have already been killed.
The new outbreak -- the third and worst to hit India -- began in Margram village, 240 kilometres (150 miles) from the state capital Kolkata.
India has so far not had any human cases of bird flu but Rahaman said he feared the disease would spread to humans with hundreds of people reporting flu symptoms in the state of 80 million.
"Naked children are playing with chickens in courtyards in affected villages. Chickens are roaming in the kitchen while women are cooking. It's a very worrisome situation," he said.
"Reports keep pouring in that many people in flu-affected districts are suffering fever, cold and cough," state health minister Surya Kanta Mishra added. Humans with bird flu exhibit similar symptoms.
People typically catch bird flu by coming into direct contact with infected poultry. Experts fear a pandemic if the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu mutates into a form easily transmissible between humans.
An AFP correspondent in the bird flu zone said proper isolation procedures were not being followed as villagers without protective gear milled about health workers carrying out the culling.
Culling teams were facing resistance from locals but villagers started handing over their poultry on Wednesday after the government began giving out immediate compensation for the dead birds. The outbreak was expected to hit poultry owners hard.
"Most of my chickens have been culled," said Jayanta Bhattacharya, a poultry owner whose farm had 30,000 chickens laying some 80,000 eggs each week. "I've already suffered a loss of Rs 400,000 ( $10,000 )."
Sri Lanka banned imports on Wednesday of live birds and chickens from India, a government official said.
Migratory birds have been largely blamed for the global spread of the disease which has killed over 200 people worldwide since 2003.
Meanwhile in neighbouring Bangladesh, nearly 2,000 chickens died of bird flu at a farm 20 kilometres (12 miles) near the capital Dhaka, prompting authorities to seal off the area and slaughter hundereds of birds.
All 1,963 birds in the farm found dead on Tuesday were killed by the lethal H5N1 strain, government spokeswoman Ayesha Khatun said.
Bangladesh reported its first H5N1 outbreak in February 2007. Since then it has been detected in 26 of the country's 64 districts, prompting the slaughter of at least 355,000 birds.
Authorities said the situation has worsened in the past week but insisted it was contained and erupting only sporadically.
"We don't think the situation is as bad as in West Bengal," livestock department director Salahuddin Khan said.
Experts differed, saying the situation was far worse than government claims and that farmers were refraining from reporting many cases.
OVER 4 LAKH BIRDS CULLED; 468 RAPID RESPONSE TEAMS IN FIELD
17:47 IST
As per latest information received, a cumulative mortality of 1,16,203 poultry birds has been reported from West Bengal, of which 2407 birds died on 22.01.2008 in Murshidabad, Nadia and Bankura districts. This number stood at 1,13,796 till yesterday.
The HSADL, Bhopal has confirmed a positive result for Avian Influenza (H5) in respect of samples from Dinhata-I block of Coochbehar district, Balagarh block of Hooghly district and Raniganj block of Burdwan district of West Bengal on the basis of rapid tests.
On 22.01.2008, 468 Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) were deployed for culling and surveillance operations as per details below:
Districts
Birbhum
Dakshin Dinajpur
Murshida-bad
Nadia
Burdwan
Bankura
Total
No. of RRTs
135
6
77
156
79
15
468
Yesterday, 257 RRTs were engaged in operations.
Latest position of culling and destruction of eggs & feed carried out till 22.01.2008 is given below:
Pawar says, bird flu virus entered from Bangladesh, WB's two more districts get affected
From our ANI Correspondent
New Delhi/Kolkata, Jan 23: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said that the deadly H5N1 virus that has infected nine districts of West Bengal has entered from Bangladesh.
Pawar said that the Centre has warned the bordering states to keep a check on poultry smuggling, adding, "But I think they mustn't have paid attention."
West Bengal Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rahaman confirmed that Cooch Behar and Hooghly districts were also affected by bird flu.
"Samples of chicken sent from Cooch Behar and Hooghly districts to the Highrisk Security Disease Laboratory (HSDL) in Bhopal yesterday tested positive," Rahaman said on Wednesday.
"We have been informed by the Centre. Steps will be taken accordingly," he said.
Meanwhile, in Bihar and Jharkhand are reportedly getting into the grip of H5N1 virus where poultry farmers reported fresh cases of poultry deaths.
State authorities have started collecting blood samples from Idgaon village of Jharkhand that reported the deaths of the birds.
The Bihar Government has ordered culling of chicken in six panchayat areas in Katihar district.
"We have received reports about a suspected case of bird flu at Mohammedpur in Malda district, hardly 5 km from Katihar. We are in constant touch with the West Bengal government about it," Deputy Chief Minister and Animal And Fishery Resources Minister, Sushil Modi told reporters.
Border officials in Tripura are taking steps to check the entry of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu virus from Bangladesh, even as authorities in West Bengal continue to struggle to contain the disease.
Through Tripura does not import poultry products from Bangladesh, everyday hundreds of vehicles enter the state from that country.
Health officials have been fumigating vehicles at the India-Bangladesh border, even as border guards seek a vigil to prevent the smuggling of the poultry into the country.
"Officially, we do not import poultry and its produce from Bangladesh. In addition to that there may be chances that poultry and its produce is smuggled into India from Bangladesh. We have sanitized our battalions to see that the smuggling of the poultry is denied," said J. A. Khan, Inspector General, Border Security Force (BSF).
Alarmed over the outbreak of bird flu in West Bengal, a high alert has been sounded in neighbouring Meghalaya to prevent the spread of the disease in that state.
According to state officials, all veterinary officials, especially those posted along the India-Bangladesh border have been directed to take preventive measures.
An extensive awareness campaign has also been introduced.
The State Government has already banned the entry of chickens in the state from outside. Additional gates have been set along the border to keep an eye.
About 160,000 poultry birds have been culled so far, while over 100,000 birds have succumbed to the disease.
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.
Bird flu in West Bengal has now come even closer to Kolkata. It has been confirmed in the Hooghly district, which is just 40 kms from the city.
With that, the bravest Kolkatan is throwing in the towel and tossing all chicken - broiler or desi - off the dinner plate.
''Hooghly is virtually next to Kolkata, so the flu can spread since it is a virus. That is why I am scared and not eating chicken,'' said Sumit Das, a shopper.
''The whole picture is frightening, because there is so much spreading out. We don't know where these chicken come from. Is it from the city or from the districts?'' said Manju, another shopper.
The panic is needless, say owners of commercial poultry farms, because bird flu has only hit backyard or desi chicken.
Kolkata mostly eats the broiler variety raised in commercial farms unaffected by the flu. The city's consumption of desi chicken is barely 0.1 per cent.
''Nowhere has it affected any organized poultry broiler industry, only back yard poultry where it has been detected. Kolkata consumes 7 to 10 lakh broiler every week, so there is no need to panic,'' said Prasun Roy, President, Poultry owners committee.
''It is quite natural that the people of Kolkata may be worried because its neighbouring district is Hooghly. We are taking all possible measures to motivate the people. All possible measures are being taken from the Kolkata Police and health department officials,'' said Anisur Rehman, Minister, Animal Resources Development.
But Kolkata is not listening. And the figures speak for themselves.
Kolkata consumes seven to 10 lakh broiler chicken every week. But in the week since bird flu was confirmed on January 16, sales have fallen to three lakh or so and are all set to nosedive in the coming weeks.
''Sales have fallen, customers have disappeared so I am not keeping too much chicken. Prices have also crashed,'' said Shomnath Halder, a shopkeeper.
With Hooghly hit by bird flu and chicken dying in Kolkata's neighbourhood, in the adjoining districts of North and South 24 Parganas and Howrah, Kolkata is no longer splitting hair over desi or broiler chicken.
The panic may be needless but the button has been pressed, and Kolkata is chickening out in the face of the bird flu that remains unchecked.
Owners wait for culling teams; some have no idea why the birds have to be killed, others say compensation too little
Rajdeep Datta Roy
Tehatta (Nadia), West Bengal: Hriday Kumar Haldar is becoming as restless as the 70-odd birds he has collected in wicker baskets. The peasant, who lives in Srirampur village of Tehatta-1 block in Nadia district, has been sitting around for one- and-a-half hours, waiting for a government culling team to arrive.
“They went around with microphones yesterday announcing that we should collect them so that they don’t have to run around after them,” he said. “But I’ve been waiting since morning and still there’s no sign of them.”
Scores of peasants such as Haldar are in the same predicament. Even as they offer up their only means of livelihood for slaughter following a district-wide move to cull birds to prevent the spread of the dreaded bird flu, the help at hand is almost always never at hand. Price to pay: Officials in Srirampur village of Tehatta-I block in Nandia district, West Bengal, distributing compensation for culled birds. (Photo: Indranil Bhoumik/ Mint)
Villagers in nearby Balarampur and Kanainagar had started losing their birds to a mysterious illness almost a week ago, but even on Tuesday morning, the culling efforts of the Rapid Response Teams, as they have been called by the government, have been anything but rapid. This, despite poultry samples from another block in the district, Haringhata, testing positive for bird flu on Tuesday at the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal.
Hundreds of birds are being sent every week to the laboratory to test for what the World Health Organization (WHO) says is the worst outbreak of bird flu in India.
“It has been decided to build several new laboratories especially in view of the bird flu situation now,” Santanu Kumar Bandyopadhyay, West Bengal’s animal husbandry commissioner, said on Tuesday.
Even as the laboratory clears the backlog, veterinary workers at potentially infected areas wait for the signal to begin culling poultry, often running the risk of the virus spreading.
It now emerges that the culling, where it has already happened, has not been as complete as it should have been.
“Some people in white suits did come yesterday, but left after killing a few as they could not catch the rest,” said Mahboob Ali Mondol of Balarampur village. “Of all the chickens in our village, barely 25% have been killed,” he said. Mondol couldn’t be too far off the mark as in almost all the villages in the block, desi (indigenous) chicken roam around unconcerned.
However, the block development officer of Tehatta-1, when contacted, insisted that culling was on in full swing and the situation was under control.
It is the backyard poultries maintained by small farmers which are said to be the driving force behind the current outbreak of avian influenza in eight districts of Bengal, according to a state animal resources department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“These hens and ducks mix with migratory birds and go swimming in rivers and ponds, thereby helping propagate the virus,” he said.
posted online: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 02:46:52
Updated: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 03:03:00
Kolkata, January 22 About 2,324 cases of people suffering from fever have been reported from the Birbhum district — Ground Zero of the bird flu outbreak in the state — in the last five days.
“The West Bengal Government is failing to understand the gravity of the situation,” said Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare P Lakshmi, during a visit to Birbhum on Tuesday.
Lakshmi, who is currently in the state to get a first hand assessment of the culling operations, did not find adequate health infrastructure to combat the bird flu threat. She criticised the state government for acting irresponsibly and lacking seriousness to fight the disease.
“There is no infrastructure, not even qualified doctors. We have sent pills and gear but the required equipment is not in place till date. They do not understand that this is an emergency situation and they should be prepared for it,” she added.
She blamed the state Animal Resource Development department for the spread of the virus to new areas, as it did not carry out culling operations in a swift manner.
The state government, however, maintained that there has been no case of H5N1 virus infecting humans, and tried to play down its own figures of fever cases in Birbhum.
“There is no need to panic. We do not have any reports of humans being infected. Therefore, a few hundred fever cases means nothing,” said Sanchita Bakshi, state director health services.
According to the status report, as many as 707 fever cases were reported from Birbhum district on January 18.
A day later and another 304 people were added to the list.
For January 20, which happened to be a Sunday, the report does not give any figures.
On January 21, 707 more cases were added to the existing figures and today an additional 613 cases of fever were recorded.
The report further stated that that six central rapid response teams are assisting the state government in culling operations.
Five human blood samples taken from South Dinajpur district have tested negative, the report added.
The outbreak of bird flu has spread to almost half of West Bengal with Cooch Behar and Hooghly being added today to the list of the affected districts. However, the authorities said they might have to raise the target of culling, set at 2 million spread over seven days.
Hooghly, situated on the outskirts of Kolkata, is a major supplier of poultry and fish to the markets in the state capital.
Death of chicken was also reported from Howrah, another district bordering Kolkata.
Nine districts — Birbhum, Murshidabad, South Dinajpur, Burdwan, Nadia, Bankura, Malda, Cooch Behar and Hooghly — out of 19 in the state have so far fallen prey to the avian flu. Initially, the disease was detected in the districts of Bardhaman, Birbhum, Murshidabad and Malda, which share borders with Jharkhand.
About 150 technical teams from eight states, including Haryana, Assam, Maharashtra, Orissa and Jharkhand, are yet to join monitoring of the culling. The H5N1 virus was reported from more blocks in the already-affected Nadia and Murshidabad districts, local administration officials said.
“Samples of chicken sent from Cooch Behar and Hooghly districts to the High-risk Security Disease Laboratory (HSDL) in Bhopal yesterday tested positive,” Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rahaman said today.
“Steps are being taken to officially notify both districts as bird flu affected for the next course of action, including culling,” Rahaman said.
The samples which tested positive were from Dinhata in Cooch Behar district and Balagarh in Hooghly district, he said. There was, however, no case of humans beings being affected, the minister said.
The daily target of culling now was 300,000 with 600 teams on the job from today, he added. Meanwhile, a report from Shillong said Meghalaya had sounded a high alert and an expert team was expected to reach the state tomorrow to oversee precautionary measures.
State Chief Secretary Ranjan Chatterjee said an extensive awareness campaign has been launched to prevent an outbreak.
Culling to begin in Raiganj soon
Statesman News Service
RAIGANJ, Jan 23: Officials of North Dinajpur Animal Husbandary Department initiated a move to kill all the birds in a portion of Itahar block of the district. The birds of this region will be killed because the region fell within the 5 km radius from the spot in Chanchal, Malda where bird flu was detected.
Reportedly the animal husbandary department is planning to start killing of such birds tomorrow.
As Chanchal block shares the border with North Dinajpur so some potion of Itahar block such as Gulandar and Surun Grampanchayat of North Dinajpur ~ which came within the 5 km radius from the spot in Chanchal ~ was marked as potential danger zones.
With an objective to gather information about the number of birds to be killed the deputy director of animal hubandary of North Dinajpur, Mr Sajal Bhunia, reached the concerned areas this afternoon with other officers. He moved from place to place to gather information of the number of poultry farms and held a meeting with pradhans of the concerned grampanchayats. The animal husbandary department aslo sought cooperation from the panchayat members of the region.
The additional district magistrate of North Dinajpur Mr Jaideb Saha said, that no cases of flu have been reported yet. But it was the government's guideline to kill all birds in 5km radius from the flu infested spot.
Animal husbandary officials of the district have now been called to carry out government order.
The deputy director of Animal Husbandary of North Dinajpur Mr Sajal Bhunia said: “Today we visited the concerned areas where birds are to be destroyed .We also held a meeting with the concerned grampanchayats and sought their help to serve our purpose. But when the birds destruction drive will actually start is yet to be fixed up. It will be decided in a meeting with district administration later, added Mr Bhunia.
BIRBHUM: Residents in West Bengal intercepted six vehicles smuggling birds from a bird flu infected area.
The six vehicles, which were interpreted by villagers at Nalhati, a bordering village along the Bengal-Jharkhand border, contained stock collected from different places in Birbhum where avian influenza has spread.
Most of the stock was from Rampurhat's two blocks, rest from other blocks and Bakreswar.
The police moved the recovered stock to a riverbank and buried the culled chicken.
Villagers residing in Rampuhat reeling under bird flu have decided to sell off their stock in Jharkhand.
"I was taking the chicken in the tempo when the villagers stopped my vehicle. They called the police and handed us over. We were taking the chicken to Jharkhand," said Imtiaz Ali, the driver who was smuggling out his stock of chickens.
The government compensation for the culled birds is Rs 40 for a country chicken, Rs 30 for poultry and Rs 10 for every chick, which the villagers claim as 'inadequate'.
According to the residents, smugglers offer to buy their stock at higher rates to the government compensation.
Meanwhile, border officials in Tripura have mounted steps to check the entry of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu virus from Bangladesh, where nearly 25,000 fowls have been culled after the disease outbreak.
Though Tripura doesn't import poultry product from Bangladesh but everyday hundreds of vehicles enter the state from the neighbouring country.
Health officials fumigated vehicles at the border as border guard’s maintained vigil to prevent the smuggling of the poultry into the country.
Seven districts of West Bengal have been affected to the bird flu but officials said the infection could be more widespread as they waited for test.
The virus was also spreading to new areas within already infected districts and the state was finding it difficult to contain the disease.
Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 21+
Eggs pile up at godowns
R. Ilangovan
Major importers impose ban on poultry from India fearing bird flu
All consignments of eggs and meat from Namakkal detained at various ports
NECC slashes price of an egg from Rs. 1.60 to Rs. 1.20
NAMAKKAL: Facing yet another bout of serious crisis in just three years, the farmers in Namakkal Zone, country’s major poultry producer, are very much apprehensive about eggs piling up at their farms’ backyards.
Major importers such as Dubai, Kuwait and Oman have immediately re-imposed the ban on poultry from India after the outbreak of avian influenza in West Bengal.
Sanitation
And a highly sanitised Namakkal Zone, situated some 1,000 km away from the epicentre of the present outbreak in West Bengal, is the major sufferer despite having healthy and robust birds, which show no symptoms of any viral attack till date.
Almost all the consignments of eggs and meat that left Namakkal Poultry Zone, a week back, are being detained at various ports and destinations following the ban.
Not our fault
For no fault of ours, we suffer, says a poultry owner in Namakkal. Nearly 4 crore eggs are piling up at the godowns of 750 farms in the zone, which produces an average 2.5 crore egg units a day. Of which 70 lakh eggs go to Kerala every day.
The export, as eggs and powder, accounts for about 55 lakh units a day. Local market consumes the rest.
Its poor shelf-life of 40 days worries the farmers most. Unless the containers at various ports are lifted on time, we will incur heavy losses, says a leading exporter.
A conservative estimate is that the export from Namakkal has slumped by 25 per cent in three days.
Meat consumption
The meat in-take has recorded a 20 per cent fall. The big players, however, are expected to wither the blues while the small and medium farmers face a bleak future.
During the outbreak three years ago too, several countries had banned poultry from India.
The poultry industry revived the orders after the World Health Organisation declared India free of bird flu.
The Namakkal zone of the National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC), which is the body to fix the egg price, has slashed it from Rs. 1.60 to Rs. 1.20 a unit to stem over the crisis. http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/22/stor...2254180500.htm
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Default Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 21+
Tuesday,22 January 2008 5:10 hrs IST
Govt considers financial aid for birdflu-hit farmers
Kolkata: Birdflu has dealt a massive blow to production and revenue of the West Bengal poultry industry compelling the state government to think of financial aid for farmers belonging to BPL and self-help groups (SHGs).
"It is a tremendous setback to the poultry industry and it will take years to make up the loss," the state's Animal Resources Development minister Anisur Rahaman said over phone from Nadia district.
The loss might be enormous taking into consideration -- distribution, sale, marketing and consumption, he said: "This includes birds dying from bird flu as well as culling." Describing the outbreak as 'unprecedented', Rahaman said the poultry industry, would face a hard time "if the situation continues for some more days". The minister said his department has been asked to ascertain the extent of loss and prepare a plan of action to meet the situation.
Since poultry farming would not be allowed for three months in the affected districts, the state government would like to extend financial aid to BPL poultry farmers and SHGs with the situation turning normal, he said.
"We have not yet worked out the extent of loss as yet to farmers in the unorganised sector as we are busy tackling the birdflu outbreak," the minister said. "We plan to distribute chicks to these farmers when the state is free of the H5N1 virus," he added.
http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-b...8768&BV_ID=@@@
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"May the long time sun
Shine upon you,
All love surround you,
And the pure light within you
Guide your way on."
"Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, lies your calling."
Aristotle
“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”
Mohandas Gandhi
NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday heaved a sigh of relief after blood samples and throat swabs taken from five residents of Murshidabad, suspected with symptoms of bird flu, tested negative.
Dr Shiv Lal, director of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (Delhi), one of the three labs which tested the five samples, told TOI: "We received five samples from National Institute of Cholera and Enetric Diseases (NICED), Kolkata, all of which have tested negative. Even tests carried out at NICED met the same results. National Institute of Virology in Pune is yet to complete the tests as the samples reached them only on Monday night."
He added: "Earlier on Sunday, three other human samples sent to NICD from Sou-th Dinajpur tested negative."
This is India's fourth outbreak of avian influenza in birds. Not a single human case of avian influenza has been reported so far.
The Union health ministry has meanwhile asked the state to carry out random sampling of humans for the H5N1 virus. The ministry also dispatched fresh stocks of one lakh capsules of Tamiflu to Bengal on Monday along with 2,500 masks and protective gear. Fifty additional bottles of Tamiflu syrup were also sent on Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, culling has been intensified in Bengal. The 258 rapid response teams culled a 2.42 lakh poultry, destroyed 88,252 eggs and about 3,000 kg of feed material. Over 80,000 poultry was culled in South Dinajpur in just three days.
Mopping operations have also been completed while disinfection will be resumed on Wednesday. Till Tuesday, Rs 18 lakh compensation had already been disbursed.
Expert teams plan to cull an additional 20 lakh chickens in the next week. The virus has killed over 1.13 lakh poultry birds in West Bengal till now. The Centre is sending in teams from eight other states, including Haryana, Assam, Maharashtra, Orissa and Jharkhand, to try and contain its spread.
An official said: "Veterinary workers from other states are being roped in and the target for culling has been upped to 21 lakh birds in the next seven days." HSADL, Bhopal, on Tuesday confirmed positive results for avian influenza on samples sent from Krishnanagar-I and Haringhata blocks of Nadia district, Ktugram, Jamuria and Galsi blocks of Burdwan district and Nalhati-I and Bolpur-Sriniketan blocks of Birbhum district.
On the other hand, several samples sent from Howrah, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Kolkata and West Midnapur tested negative.
In Birbhum district, two trucks carrying chickens bound for Jharkhand were detained on Tuesday at Nalhati as the government has banned movement of poultry from bird flu-affected districts.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/I...ow/2722471.cms
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"May the long time sun
Shine upon you,
All love surround you,
And the pure light within you
Guide your way on."
"Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, lies your calling."
Aristotle
“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”
Mohandas Gandhi
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Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 21+
Pandemic planning information is available at 
Price to pay: Officials in Srirampur village of Tehatta-I block in Nandia district, West Bengal, distributing compensation for culled birds. (Photo: Indranil Bhoumik/ Mint)
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