UNCLASSIFIED
Avian Influenza Daily Digest
December 18, 2008 20:15 GMT
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Quid Novi
Bangladesh: Ministry Reports Outbreak of Avian Influenza in Gazipur
India: 2,000 chickens culled in Orissa over flu fear
India: Surveillance stepped up as bird flu grips Assam, Bengal
India: 9,000 birds culled in bird-flu hit Bengal district
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
India: We have to live with bird flu--West Bengal minister
12/18/08 Indopia--Bird flu may have taken alarming proportions in some parts of the country but West Bengal minister Anisur Rehman feels people have to live with it just like they do with malaria, chicken pox and polio.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Cambodia: Authorities rush to contain bird flu
12/18/08 Phnompen Post--one hundred people living in the immediate vicinity of Cambodia's first confirmed human case of the H5N1 virus in over a year have been tested as authorities scramble to determine the extent of the latest outbreak.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Taiwan: COA to release report on Kaohsiung bird flu case
12/18/08 Taipei Times--The preliminary results of the tests were inconsistent with health conditions, but the results of a second test will be available within two days. The Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday said that a report on whether a Kaohsiung County chicken farm had been affected by bird flu would be out in the next two days.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
India: 10,000 Bird Flu grips new areas in Malda
12/18/08 The Statesman--Amid slow-going culling efforts, Bird Flu is spreading in Malda. Hundreds of chickens have died in the Ratua block, about 10 km from Satgharia where the virus was first detected. The Malda district magistrate has asked the animal resources development department to collect blood samples of the dead and ailing birds in the block. ?Fresh bird deaths have been reported from Chandmoni I and II and Baharal GP in Ratua within 10 km radius from the Bird Flu affected areas. ARD officials have left for the spot,? the DM, Mr Sridhar Ghosh said.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Bangladesh: Sea routes under vigil
12/18/08 Express News--The district administration has sealed the sea routes in the district to check entry of poultry through sea from West Bengal. District Collector Sishirkanta Panda said officials of Mahakalpada and Rajnagar have been directed to keep a tab on the sea routes after the State Government banned supply of poultry from West Bengal following detection of bird flu cases.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
China: Farmers in Dark Over Bird Flu
12/18/08 Radio Free Asia--Chinese officials report an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus among poultry flocks in eastern Jiangsu province. Poultry farmers in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu, site of a recent outbreak of avian influenza, say they know little about what is happening and have seen little help from the government.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
India seals part of Bangladesh border over bird flu
12/18/08 Reuters--India sealed part of its border with Bangladesh on Thursday amid fears the latest outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus had spread to new areas, officials said.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Pandemic Preparedness
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Regional Reporting and Surveillance
India: We have to live with bird flu--West Bengal minister
12/18/08 Indopia--Bird flu may have taken alarming proportions in some parts of the country but West Bengal minister Anisur Rehman feels people have to live with it just like they do with malaria, chicken pox and polio.
"We have raised a slogan. How to live with bird flu? We have to live with bird flu just like we live with malaria, chicken pox and polio,"Rehman, who is the state&aposs animal resource development minister, told reporters.
Rehman said culling was almost over in Malda district where the target was 25,000 birds. According to him, the situation was under control and there was no report of spread or fresh outbreak of the disease.
There was also no case of human infection, he said.
In Assam, seven districts have been hit by avian influenza and over four lakh of the targeted 5.40 lakh affected birds being culled.
Source: PTI
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Cambodia: Authorities rush to contain bird flu
12/18/08 Phnompen Post--one hundred people living in the immediate vicinity of Cambodia's first confirmed human case of the H5N1 virus in over a year have been tested as authorities scramble to determine the extent of the latest outbreak.
Blood samples from people who had contact with the 19-year-old man diagnosed with avian influenza have so far revealed no signs of the disease, a health official said.
The 19-year-old is the Kingdom's eighth known case of bird flu, and all previous cases have been fatal. Though the disease has killed fewer than 30 people worldwide this year, the threat lies in the flu's potential to mutate into a strain transferrable between humans that could set off a lethal global pandemic.
According to Sok Touch, the director of the Communicable Disease Control Department at the Ministry of Health, 99 villagers from Kandal and Kampong Speu provinces have been tested and, so far, no new cases have been found. Not all 99 blood samples, however, have been processed.
Kao Phal, director of the Animal Health and Production Department at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said Tuesday that they have collected 76 ducks, chicken and geese from the two provinces for testing and expect results to be ready later this week.
"We will take immediate action to destroy the birds if bird flu is found," he said.
According to Kao Phal, authorities have educated villagers throughout the country about how to avoid avian influenza by providing booklets and leaflets to villagers.
"We know that villagers understand how to protect themselves from bird flu, but still people get infected," he said.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Taiwan: COA to release report on Kaohsiung bird flu case
12/18/08 Taipei Times--The preliminary results of the tests were inconsistent with health conditions, but the results of a second test will be available within two days. The Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday said that a report on whether a Kaohsiung County chicken farm had been affected by bird flu would be out in the next two days.
Responding to speculation that the examination process may have been delayed as the possible infection was reported almost two months ago, COA Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Deputy Director-General Huang Kuo-ching (???) said the examination process followed protocol.
Secondary results will be published this week, Huang said.
?On Oct. 21 we received a report about a possible H5N2 infection at a chicken farm in Kaohsiung County and went to collect samples for analysis; [we] had the results by Nov. 12,? Huang said.
Though the results were positive, because the death rate of the birds was less than 3 percent and the chickens did not have respiratory tract infections, the results were inconsistent with the health condition of the affected chicken population, Huang said, adding: ?The expert panel decided to collect a second sample on the same day [Nov. 12th] ? the result of which will be available in the next two days.?
All remaining 18,000 chickens at the farm were culled as a precautionary measure, the COA said.
The former chairman of the inter-ministy avian and pandemic influenza control committee, Chen Chien-jen (???), of the Academia Sinica, said that whether Taiwan has a bird flu epidemic or not, the COA should make comprehensive epidemic-prevention efforts upon the discovery of any strain of bird flu.
He added that the COA should make the information available to minimize public concern.
Chen said that while the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique can reveal whether an examination sample carries the H5N2 virus strain within a day, the separation and cultivation of the virus, which can further confirm PCR results, takes a month.
What is important is that, ?[In the meantime], a standard operating procedure [SOP] should be launched to prevent the possible spread of an epidemic [before results are out],? he said.
Chen said that a complete disinfection should be carried out at the affected chicken farm, and the chickens should be inspected and possibly slaughtered as soon as a possible epidemic is suspected.
H5N2 is a weak strain of the bird flu virus that is unlikely to be transmitted to humans and the law does not require that the discovery of the virus be reported.
However, as the news is now out in the open, Chen said, ?If the government had done [all it could to prevent an epidemic], it should tell people and let people know that the case has been dealt with and closed.?
When asked to comment, Huang said the culture separation and cultivation process takes between 19 and 40 days. While the first examination of the Kaohsiung chicken farm took 19 days, the second examination will also come out within the 40-day bracket.
In terms of prevention work, Huang said: ?We treated it as a crisis ? we launched the SOP on Oct. 21 and have been monitoring chicken farms nearby since.?
He said the affected chicken population was slaughtered on Nov. 14.
In related news, responding to Japan?s decision to temporarily stall poultry imports from Taiwan, COA poultry production section-chief Su Meng-lan (???) said Japan would lift the ban if the tests prove negative.
She said poultry exports to Japan brought in between NT$70 million (US$2.15 million) to NT80 million a year.
Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus deputy secretary-general Lu Hsueh-chang (???) urged the government to reinforce gate-keeping measures to ensure the quality of domestic poultry.
At a press conference, Lu said Japan?s reaction to the suspected bird flu case was ?within expectations,? but the government should take action to prevent similar cases.
Lu and another KMT deputy secretary-general, Yang Chiung-ying (???), challenged Chen?s comments that the PCR test could be completed within one day and that he found the COA?s slow progress ?strange.?
Yang also rebutted media speculation that the COA might have covered things up because of Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin?s (???) visit early last month.
?Not everything is political,? she said.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
India: 10,000 Bird Flu grips new areas in Malda
12/18/08 The Statesman--Amid slow-going culling efforts, Bird Flu is spreading in Malda. Hundreds of chickens have died in the Ratua block, about 10 km from Satgharia where the virus was first detected.
The Malda district magistrate has asked the animal resources development department to collect blood samples of the dead and ailing birds in the block. ?Fresh bird deaths have been reported from Chandmoni I and II and Baharal GP in Ratua within 10 km radius from the Bird Flu affected areas. ARD officials have left for the spot,? the DM, Mr Sridhar Ghosh said.
Meanwhile, culling operations were being hampered due to stray incidents of resistance from villagers. One member of a culling team was allegedly assaulted and heckled by villagers at Anandipur late this evening following an altercation. The incident prompted culling team members to demand police protection for the operations tomorrow.
Though the district administration has targeted to cull at least 16,500 birds in the affected villages, the progress is slow due to the villagers? resistance. Rapid response team members have been able to cull about 3,000 birds so far. Yesterday, 18 culling teams had been able to cull only 155 birds till late evening. Today, the district administration has added four more culling teams to complete the operation quickly. The district magistrate said that at least 12 more teams would join the exercise tomorrow.
The CMOH, Malda, Dr Srikanta Roy, said isolation wards have been set up in the district but till evening no avian flu affected human case was reported.
In Kolkata, state ARD secretary, Mr Dilip Chakraborty denied that there was any resistance from villagers to the culling operations. He said the problems yesterday had occurred as the administration could not arrange for funds to pay the villagers for their birds.
The West Bengal Poultry Forum meanwhile claimed that it is not bird flu, but a common disease which is afflicting chickens in the state. Mr Madan Mohan Pramanik, general secretary of the forum, meeting Mr Dilip Chakraborty, principal secretary, ARD, today at Writers? Buildings, alleged that some multinational companies were floating the bird flu theory to create panic and damage the price advantage poultry farmers of the state enjoy in the market.
Pandemic Preparedness
PandemicFlu.gov PlanFirst Webcasts on Pandemic Influenza
Join us for the next PlanFirst Webcast on Wednesday, January 28th at 2 p.m. ET. Details about the January 28th Webcast will be posted to the site in the near future.
No registration is required. Email your questions for the Webcast panelists before and/or during the program to hhsstudio@hhs.gov. Please include your first name, state and town.
For anyone unable to attend yesterday's Webcast on the new HSS guidance on antiviral drug use and stockpiling, an archive of the Webcast will be available at http://pandemicflu.gov/news/panflu_webinar.html within the next two weeks.
Quid Novi
OIE: Bangladesh follow-up #9
Highly pathogenic avian influenza,
Bangladesh
Information received on 17/12/2008 from Dr Salehuddin Khan , Director, Department of Livestock Services, Department of Livestock Services, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Summary
Report type Follow-up report No. 9
Start date 05/02/2007
Date of first confirmation of the event 22/03/2007
Report date 17/12/2008
Date submitted to OIE 17/12/2008
Reason for notification First occurrence of a listed disease
Causal agent Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus
Serotype H5N1
Nature of diagnosis Suspicion, Clinical, Laboratory (basic), Laboratory (advanced), Necropsy
This event pertains to the whole country
Related reports
* Immediate notification (30/03/2007)
* Follow-up report No. 1 (30/04/2007)
* Follow-up report No. 2 (24/05/2007)
* Follow-up report No. 3 (08/07/2007)
* Follow-up report No. 4 (17/12/2007)
* Follow-up report No. 5 (16/03/2008)
* Follow-up report No. 6 (24/04/2008)
* Follow-up report No. 7 (11/06/2008)
* Follow-up report No. 8 (20/11/2008)
* Follow-up report No. 9 (17/12/2008)
New outbreaks
Outbreak 1 Hamid poultry farm, Kamal Kachna, Rangpur, RAJSHAHI
Date of start of the outbreak 29/11/2008
Outbreak status Resolved (29/11/2008)
Epidemiological unit Farm
Affected animals
Species Susceptible Cases Deaths Destroyed Slaughtered
Birds 255 14 14 241 0
Affected population a commercial farm
Outbreak 2 Islamia poultry farm, Shalidha, Norsingdi, DHAKA
Date of start of the outbreak 10/12/2008
Outbreak status Resolved (11/12/2008)
Epidemiological unit Farm
Affected animals
Species Susceptible Cases Deaths Destroyed Slaughtered
Birds 3645 105 105 3540 0
Affected population a commercial farm
Summary of outbreaks Total outbreaks: 2
Total animals affected
Species Susceptible Cases Deaths Destroyed Slaughtered
Birds 3900 119 119 3781 0
Outbreak statistics
Species Apparent morbidity rate Apparent mortality rate Apparent case fatality rate Proportion susceptible animals lost*
Birds 3.05% 3.05% 100.00% 100.00%
* Removed from the susceptible population through death, destruction and/or slaughter
Epidemiology
Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection
* Unknown or inconclusive
Epidemiological comments Movement control was implemented within a 10-km-radius zone around the outbreak.
Control measures
Measures applied
* Stamping out
* Movement control inside the country
* Disinfection of infected premises/establishment(s)
* Vaccination prohibited
* No treatment of affected animals
Measures to be applied
* No other measures
Diagnostic test results
Laboratory name and type Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute, Savar, Dhaka (National laboratory)
Tests and results
Species Test Test date Result
Birds polymerase chain reaction (PCR) 11/12/2008 Positive
Laboratory name and type Field Disease Investigation Laboratory, Joypurhat (National laboratory)
Tests and results
Species Test Test date Result
Birds rapid tests 29/11/2008 Positive
Future Reporting
The event is continuing. Weekly follow-up reports will be submitted.
Map of outbreak locations
Quid Novi
OIE: India follow uip #2
Highly pathogenic avian influenza,
India
Information received on 17/12/2008 from Mr Natarajan Gokulram, Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi, India
Summary
Report type Follow-up report No. 2
Start date 21/11/2008
Date of first confirmation of the event 27/11/2008
Report date 17/12/2008
Date submitted to OIE 18/12/2008
Reason for notification Reoccurrence of a listed disease
Date of previous occurrence 11/2008
Causal agent Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus
Serotype H5N1
Nature of diagnosis Laboratory (basic), Laboratory (advanced)
This event pertains to a defined zone within the country
Related reports
* Immediate notification (28/11/2008)
* Follow-up report No. 1 (11/12/2008)
* Follow-up report No. 2 (17/12/2008)
New outbreaks
Outbreak 1 Englishbazar, Englishbazar, Malda, WEST BENGAL
Date of start of the outbreak 13/12/2008
Outbreak status Continuing (or date resolved not provided)
Epidemiological unit Village
Affected animals
Species Susceptible Cases Deaths Destroyed Slaughtered
Birds 2933 17 11 155
Affected population Rural backyard poultry.
Summary of outbreaks Total outbreaks: 1
Outbreak statistics
Species Apparent morbidity rate Apparent mortality rate Apparent case fatality rate Proportion susceptible animals lost*
Birds 0.58% 0.38% 64.71% **
* Removed from the susceptible population through death, destruction and/or slaughter
** Not calculated because of missing information
Epidemiology
Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection
* Unknown or inconclusive
Epidemiological comments Epidemiological investigation is ongoing. Stamping out of all domestic poultry is being applied in an approximately 3-km-radius zone around the outbreaks followed by compensation of the owners.
An intensive surveillance campaign has been launched in a 10-km-radius zone including:
- closure of poultry markets and prohibition on sale and transportation of poultry products in the infected zone;
- disinfection of premises after culling and sealing of premises where appropriate.
Restocking will be applied in accordance with a specific protocol.
Control measures
Measures applied
* Stamping out
* Quarantine
* Movement control inside the country
* Screening
* No vaccination
* No treatment of affected animals
Measures to be applied
* Disinfection of infected premises/establishment(s)
* Dipping / Spraying
Diagnostic test results
Laboratory name and type High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, Bhopal (National laboratory)
Tests and results
Species Test Test date Result
Birds real-time PCR 15/12/2008 Positive
Birds reverse transcription - polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) 15/12/2008 Positive
Laboratory name and type National Institute of Virology (National laboratory)
Tests and results
Species Test Test date Result
Birds reverse transcription - polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) 17/12/2008 Positive
Future Reporting
The event is continuing. Weekly follow-up reports will be submitted.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Bangladesh: Sea routes under vigil
12/18/08 Express News--The district administration has sealed the sea routes in the district to check entry of poultry through sea from West Bengal. District Collector Sishirkanta Panda said officials of Mahakalpada and Rajnagar have been directed to keep a tab on the sea routes after the State Government banned supply of poultry from West Bengal following detection of bird flu cases.
The district administration held a meeting Tuesday to chalk out plans to check entry of poultry. The Chief District Veterinary Officer (CDVO) and other senior officials of the district attended. A committee was formed under the chairmanship of the District Collector to take proper steps to prevent the spread of bird flu
from West Bengal to Kendrapara.
Rapid Response Team (RRT) was also formed in all nine blocks of the district. A veterinary assistant surgeon (VAS), two livestock inspectors, one ?Go Mitra?, Zilla Parishad members and social workers will constitute each RRT.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
China: Farmers in Dark Over Bird Flu
12/18/08 Radio Free Asia--Chinese officials report an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus among poultry flocks in eastern Jiangsu province. Poultry farmers in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu, site of a recent outbreak of avian influenza, say they know little about what is happening and have seen little help from the government.
China's official Xinhua news agency said officials had culled 377,000 birds on farms around Dongtai city and neighboring Hai'an county after an outbreak was confirmed to have been caused by the deadly H5N1 virus.
But poultry farmers were unaware of the potential health risks of the outbreak, and local official news outlets said they hadn't reported the story.
"We lost about 40,000 or 50,000," a poultry farmer near Dongtai city said. "Now, even the chicks are getting infected. We are having to deal with this ourselves. We are burying them in pits."
Dongtai is home to an estimated 10 million farmed poultry.
"They haven't managed to come up with a vaccine yet, and we have had no help from officials. If, as you say, this disease could be a danger to human life, then we didn't know about it. The government should send people down here to take care of it," she added.
Lack of information
Another farmer in the area, surnamed Li, said he didn't know about the outbreak, or what caused it, despite announcements by the Agriculture Ministry in Beijing.
"Chickens die as a normal part of running a poultry business," he said.
"I'm not sure when this took place. There are so many poultry farmers in this region. I haven't heard anything locally about whether this was in fact bird flu. It is only one of the diseases that can affect poultry, after all," Li added.
The first farmer partially confirmed a report by the Hong Kong-based Information Center on Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China, which said some sick chickens had been taken to Shanghai, Shandong, or Guangdong and sold in the wake of the oubreak.
"All of the farms did this. A few would die every day, and then we would just sell them anyway."
She said the poultry merchants then realized there was a problem and started to drop the prices they would give for the chickens.
Local media silence
She said she had heard no announcement from the Agriculture Ministry, and had no idea where the chicken carcasses ended up eventually.
She had no idea that the central government was offering compensation of 10 yuan per chicken to farmers who slaughtered sick birds.
In the absence of any new vaccine, she said, she would be forced out of business.
Local news outlets said they hadn't reported the story.
"We haven't heard anything about this," a duty editor in the newsroom of the Dongtai Daily News said.
"Our reporters haven't said anything about it ... I don't know [if there is a reporting ban on this]. That's all I can tell you. I can't say if this is true or if it isn't. How many chickens actually died? What was the disease?"
An employee on duty at the Dongtai television station said they hadn't reported the story either, although he had heard the news.
"No, no. This is provincial-level news. I saw the report, but I don't know the actual details. No, [we didn't report it]."
Roadside checks
But local police said strict controls were being imposed on the movement of any poultry in the area.
An employee who answered the phone at the Sancang township police station, where a large number of poultry farms are concentrated, said the area had been placed under quarantine to ensure that no sick poultry was taken elsewhere.
"The government has dispatched people to every intersection in this area, and they are carrying out roadside checks to prevent infected chickens from being moved around. The checks are continuing [Wednesday]. They have been going on for some time now, although I don't know the details."
The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has killed more than 200 people and ravaged poultry flocks worldwide since 2003, was found on a chicken farm in Dongtai city and in another farm in Hai'an county, China's Agriculture Ministry said in a statement on its Web site Tuesday.
The virus hasn't been reported in any other locations, and UN Food and Agriculture adviser Vincent Martin sought to play down fears of an outbreak of bird flu in China, which has already seen three confirmed human deaths from bird flu this year.
Martin said the FAO had been notified by Chinese authorities on Tuesday about the outbreak, which could have been triggered by migratory birds.
Quid Novi
Bangladesh: Ministry Reports Outbreak of Avian Influenza in Gazipur
12/18/08 ARGUS--The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock of Bangladesh reports an outbreak of avian influenza in Gazipur district. The agency further informs that H5 avian influenza has been confirmed in 291 farms in 47 districts of the country as of 16 December. Culling operations have been conducted in 551 farms since the outbreak began in the country in February 2007.
Article URL(s)
http://www.mofl.gov.bd/daily_birdflu_report.pdf
Quid Novi
India: 2,000 chickens culled in Orissa over flu fear
12/18/08 Hindustan Times--Authorities in Orissa on Thursday morning culled at least 2,000 chickens in Balasore district after they were detected in a bus coming from bird-flu hit West Bengal, officials said.
Veterinary officials spotted the poultry in a private bus at Laxmannath check post on the Orissa-West Bengal border early Thursday, Bishnupada Sethi, director of the fisheries and animal resource development department, told IANS.
The poultry was later culled.
Sethi blamed the West Bengal government for not checking the movement of poultry birds and products. "They should take measures not to allow movement of birds from their state to Orissa," he said.
The Orissa government Tuesday imposed a ban on the import of poultry from neighbouring states following the confirmation of the presence of H5N1 bird flu virus in West Bengal.
Sethi said the state government had collected blood samples from thousands of birds from various parts of the state but all of them tested negative for bird flu.
"We have asked the collectors of at least eight districts bordering West Bengal to remain alert," Sethi said, adding that instructions have also been given to personnel manning the check posts to search passing vehicles to ensure no poultry enters the state.
The West Bengal government Monday said strains of the dreaded avian flu virus were detected by the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory at Bhopal in blood samples collected from two dead poultry birds in Malda district.
Quid Novi
India: Surveillance stepped up as bird flu grips Assam, Bengal
12/18/08 New Kerala--With avian flu breaking out in West Bengal and Assam, the central government has stepped up surveillance to contain the spread of the deadly H5N1 virus in surrounding areas. The deadly virus has spread across six Assam districts, where the authorities say it has assumed epidemic proportions. It has reappeared for the second time this year in West Bengal's Malda district.
A total of 368,935 birds have been culled in the two states, according to the department of animal husbandry and dairying under the ministry of agriculture.
About 1,150 health workers are conducting surveillance in the two bird-flu affected states, a statement issued here by the health ministry Thursday said.
Although 143 cases of upper respiratory tract infection
with fever have been detected, none of these people had a history of handling dead or sick birds, it said.
Also, 122 cases of fever were reported from the various health facilities.
?Active house-to-house surveillance is being followed in a 0-3 km zone in all epicentres and in 3-10 km in phases,? the statement said.
A total population of 178,485 has been covered in the 0-3 km area while 145,317 people were covered in the 3-10 km area.
The department notified bird flu outbreak in English Bazar block in Malda district of West Bengal Monday and has taken containment measures, the statement said.
In Assam, bird flu was declared by the department in Block Gobardhana in Barpeta district and Block West Nalbari in Nalbari district Dec 4.
Quid Novi
India: 9,000 birds culled in bird-flu hit Bengal district
12/18/08 Hindustan Times----Over 9,000 poultry birds have been culled in West Bengal's Malda district after the latest bird flu outbreak there but some villagers are resisting the move, officials said Thursday.
"Veterinary workers have culled 9,373 poultry birds since Tuesday at Narhatta and Satgheria villages under the English Bazar police station in Malda," District Magistrate Sridhar Ghosh told IANS. The district is 350 km from here.
However, Ghosh said those involved in culling are facing some resistance from villagers, who are demanding higher compensation.
"Villagers are being paid a compensation of Rs.20-50 for each fowl and duck depending on its age. But they are demanding double the prices for grown-up chickens," Ghosh said.
According to district sources, villagers are hiding their poultry to avoid culling.
Ghosh said the state animal resources development (ARD) department revised its culling target Thursday.
"After inspecting all the poultry farms in the affected areas, the ARD authorities have increased the culling target to 20,000 from 16,000," the DM said. A two-day mopping up operation will begin after the culling operations are over.
ARD Minister Anisur Rehman had said that two blood samples of dead poultry sent to the High Security Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Bhopal had tested positive for avian flu.
Eighteen culling teams with a total of 90 workers - wearing white protective suits, gloves and masks - Tuesday started killing and burying chickens and ducks at Narhatta and Satgheria villages in Malda.
In January, over 200,000 poultry birds were culled when avian flu was detected in several districts. An outbreak of bird flu had been detected in Malda in March and more than 50,000 birds were culled.
The disease is caused by the H5N1 virus.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
India seals part of Bangladesh border over bird flu
12/18/08 Reuters--India sealed part of its border with Bangladesh on Thursday amid fears the latest outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus had spread to new areas, officials said.
Authorities in West Bengal state have killed about 10,000 birds in the Malda district which borders Bangladesh since Tuesday, despite resistance from villagers who want more compensation, after tests proved a new outbreak in the area.
"We have already sealed the border with Bangladesh along Malda district to check the spread of bird flu through chickens and ducks smuggled in from the other side," West Bengal's animal resource development minister Anisur Rahman told Reuters.
Hundreds of thousands of birds have also been culled in India's northeastern Assam state and neighbouring Meghalaya since an outbreak was detected there last month.
While there has been no recent outbreak in Bangladesh, India's impoverished neighbour suffered a severe bird flu epidemic starting in March 2007. Millions of birds were culled, costing the poultry industry hundreds of millions of dollars.
Malda authorities have sent more samples for testing after hundreds of chickens died in the past two days in a different area of the district, about 10 km (6 miles) away from the village regarded as the centre of the latest outbreak, officials said.
Authorities also increased the number of birds they plan to kill in West Bengal by 3,500 to 20,000 after discovering that there were more poultry farms in the area than first thought.
"We hope to complete the work by tomorrow," said N.K. Shit, a senior animal resource development official in Malda.
Health workers are also monitoring about 100 villagers in and around Guwahati city in Assam who had shown signs of H5N1 but tests so far indicated none had the virus, health officials said. There have been no human cases of H5N1 confirmed in India.
Neighbouring states have also been taking precautions such as banning birds from affected states. Authorities in Orissa state to the south culled 2,000 chickens as a precautionary measure.
Smugglers had tried to sneak the birds across the border from West Bengal into Orissa in a passenger bus, officials said.
Monday's confirmation marked the third outbreak of the disease this year in West Bengal, where 4 million birds were culled in January in what the World Health Organisation (WHO) has described as India's worst-ever bird flu outbreak.
Experts fear the H5N1 virus might mutate or combine with the highly contagious seasonal influenza virus and spark a pandemic that could kill millions of people across the world.
According to the WHO, H5N1 bird flu has infected 391 people in 15 countries and killed 247 of them since the virus resurfaced in Asia in 2003. (Additional reporting by Jatindra Dash; Editing by Matthias Williams and Dean Yates)
