Bird Flu outbreak confirmed in West Bengal
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 3:12 am
The animal husbandry department has confirmed an outbreak of Bird Flu in West Bengal. Samples taken from Malda district of the state have tested positive for bird flu.
The district administration had sent samples from the dead birds found in Satgharia village, where birds had died on Saturday (December 13) to the Bhopal laboratory to check for the H5N1 virus. The tests have come out positive.
Fresh poultry deaths were reported from the Englishbazar area of Malda, sparking fears that it was a bird flu attack. But the district animal resources department (ARD) had earlier refused to confirm the deaths.
At least 200 chickens reportedly died over the past 24 hours at Budhia village in the Englishbazar block.
The animal resources department did not confirm if the chickens had actually died at Budhia. The Deputy Director of ARD said, “We have sent two birds from Satgharia tests, but our team has not got any report of abnormal bird death from elsewhere.”
At Budhia villagers said, “On Saturday, about 250 birds died, while at least 100 died in our panchayat area alone. I’ve informed the block officials repeatedly, but to no avail.”
ARD experts said that a place that had witnessed a bird flu outbreak had a high chance of seeing another viral attack in a year. Earlier this year, about 23,500 birds were culled in Englishbazar after a bird flu outbreak, while about 87,000 were culled in Chanchol subdivision.
On Saturday, Satgharia villagers had complained that 200-odd birds had died over the three previous days. Among other symptoms, villagers reported that the birds were becoming drowsy before dying . A villager said that the poultry-owners had first suspected it to be Ranikhet disease, which attacks at the beginning of winter. But when reports of bird deaths started trickling in from other villages, they suspected it was bird flu.
(With inputs from TOI)
( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)
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