India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

[HenryN]

Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

Avian flu?s under control, claims Bengal
Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, Jan. 28: The state government today announced that the bird flu situation is now under control after no new areas were added to the list of affected. Yesterday, two more districts were added to the list after samples sent from West Midnapore and South 24-Parganas tested positive. The state also claimed that it has completed culling of 1.9 million poultry birds where 2.5 million birds were to be culled. If the momentum can be maintained and the H5N1 virus does not spread to new areas, the culling process would be completed within the next two days.
In a letter to the Union agriculture and consumer affairs minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee wrote that 13 of the state?s 19 districts had been affected and more than 2.5 million poultry birds were to be culled in the affected districts of which 85 per cent had been culled.
As Kolkata is reeling under a bird flu scare after cases were confirmed in neighbouring districts of Howrah and South 24-Parganas, the state government has imposed a ban on rampant import of chickens to the city. The state animal resources development minister, Mr Anisur Rahman, today said only 14 firms of the city, who take all precautionary measures, will be allowed to bring chickens to Kolkata.
The minister said that to stop rampant import of chickens, they have held discussions with the city police commissioner, Mr Goutam Mohan Chakraborty. The step was initiated after it was realised that the H5N1 virus spread because of chicken transportation.
After the spread of the virus was apparently brought under control, however, the state government has stressed rehabilitation of the affected families. The chief minister urged Mr Pawar to ensure that the Centre bears 50 percent of the total rehabilitation expenditure. The chief minister wrote that alternative animal husbandry schemes for 500,00 affected families would require Rs 75 crore.
The state government has also decided that an interim relief at the rate of Rs 500 will be given to the affected families. This would cost the exchequer Rs 20 crore. The chief minister urged Mr Pawar to bear 50 per cent of the amount of Rs 75 crore.

Villagers foil culling
The culling of 15,000 chickens in Debra block of Midnapore (West) was foiled today by villagers demanding more compensation. The additional district magistrate and other district officials tried in vain to persuade the villagers

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=1&theme=&usrsess=1&id=187717

[HenryN]

Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

South 24 Parganas villagers still sceptical


Antara Das







Birlapur (South 24 Parganas): Happiness is writ large on the face of 35-year-old Rashid Ali, a resident of Chandipur village near Budge Budge in South 24 Parganas district. His gastronomic cravings are satisfied, feasting as he has been on chicken ever since the outbreak of avian flu was confirmed in a nearby village on Sunday.
?Our entire family has feasted on the 10-12 country chicken that we owned,? he said on Monday afternoon, watching the culling teams sent from the district headquarters preparing to fan out in various directions.
?Why waste perfectly healthy chicken worth so much just for fear?? he said, firm in his conviction that the avian flu affects only farm-bred poultry and not the domestic chicken.
Low resistance


A few kilometres further on, in Chara Dongaria village, the culling operations are more a matter of sport and amusement for the villagers. As the team members in protective gear prowl around in vain in the courtyards, trying to accost scurrying birds, it is the 10 year-old village lad, bare feet, bare hands and nonchalant, who manages to get hold of them.
Resistance is low among the villagers ? an all-party meeting at the block level and an extensive awareness campaign launched through mobile vans having made them aware of the impending government action. It also helps that most of them are either farmers or work in nearby shops, with proceeds from poultry just supplementing their income.
Compensation is being paid on the spot ? from Rs. 40 for egg-laying hens to Rs.10 for the chicks. At any given day, the market rate would have been Rs.70-80. ?The compensation should have been higher,? said Salim Mohammad Khan, forced to down the shutters of his chicken shop. The government would lose its face if it did not live up to its moral responsibility of protecting the people?s interests, he added.
Sk. Munirul Islam, the pradhan of the Kashipur-Alampur gram panchayat, foresees resistance from an unlikely quarter. ?There is a prosperous trade in birds in the area, mostly parrots and cuckoos,? he said, adding that their owners may not be as willing to part with their booty as the rest.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/29/stories/2008012959560500.htm

[HenryN]

Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=780 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2>US ready to help to check bird flu, Bengal asks for their plan

Express news service
Posted online: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 0127 hrs IST
New Delhi/Kolkata, January 28
Hours after the US offered to assist West Bengal in checking the spread of bird flu which already has half the state in its grip, the state government today said Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had asked the Chief Secretary to speak to the Americans on how they could help. The state said a similar offer for help had come from the Chinese.
In New Delhi, US Ambassador to India David Mulford told reporters: ?We have an experience that bird flu spreads very quickly, so it needs to be tackled fast. Though no case of human beings having contracted the disease have been reported, it has to be nipped in the bud before it moves forward.?
The US government approached the Ministry of External Affairs last week to say it could provide technical support to the West Bengal government for surveillance and diagnosis of the virus ? both, in human beings, in case the virus travels to them, and in poultry. It also offered to provide protection gear and other equipment for workers involved in controlling the outbreak. The Centre, sources said, welcomed the offer but it was still to hear from the West Bengal government whether it needed any such help. The US also offered to look for availability of the Tamiflu syrup in global stocks and facilitate supply of any equipment or medicine in case India needed it. Tamiflu is the most effective medicine against bird flu in human beings and is available both in tablet and syrup forms, the latter meant for children.
?The United States and India are global partners, working together on influenza surveillance. By working together, we share information and ideas and learn from each other about best practices to fight avian influenza and contain possible pandemic,? said a US Embassy spokesperson.
Since it was first detected on January 4, the bird flu virus has spread to 13 districts in West Bengal, making it the worst outbreak of the disease in India.
In Kolkata, West Bengal?s Minister for Animal Resources Development Anisur Rehman told The Indian Express: ?We have been offered help from the US government and the Chief Minister has asked the Chief Secretary to talk to them on how they can help us.? Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has convened a meeting of officials tomorrow in New Delhi which will be attended by West Bengal?s Resident Commissioner in Delhi.
?It was the US Consul General in Kolkata, Henry Jardine, who came up with the help offer. But without the Centre's permission, we cannot do anything. So we will ask the Union Government to get in touch with the US government on how they plan to help us. Will they help us in culling operations or do they want to provide us medicines and kits? All these things will have to be ascertained. We have briefed our Resident Commissioner in Delhi who is going to meet the Union Health Minister tomorrow,? Chief Secretary Amit Kiran Deb told The Indian Express.
Meanwhile, China?s Consul General in Kolkata, Mao Siwei, has also offered help. Confirming this, Deb said: ?The Chinese Consul General came to us and we asked him how his country planned to help us. He said he would get back to us soon.?
The Consul General said: ?I took a personal initiative to meet him (the Chief Secretary). I have been reading about the disease in different newspapers. I wanted to know if my country could be of any help.?

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http://www.indianexpress.com/printerFriendly/266585.html

[sharon sanders]

Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

What we are seeing here is the evolution of a virus. This was eventual and predicted. At this point this is an environmental hazard.

[Michael Coston]

Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

I have to agree with Fla1. We need to get used to this `new normal', that H5N1 is part of our environment, and we need to adjust to it, because it isn't going away anytime soon.


As I wrote in my blog yesterday:


This time of year, when bird flu stories come fast and furious, some people become transfixed by the coverage, and become convinced with every breaking news story that the end is nigh.

Well, we've been down this road before; with the chaos that was Turkey, the Karo cluster, and dozens of other incidents that burned themselves out. The end wasn't nigh then, and it may not be nigh now.

Of course, one of these days, they may be right.


But it may not be this year, or even next. In order to protect my mental health, I find I have to view this as a marathon, not a sprint.

[Treyfish]

Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=articleAd width=305>Monday,28 January 2008 19:0 hrs IST <!-- Added on 5/3/2007 starts --></TD><TD width=54></TD><TD width=61></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--
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Kolkata: Birdflu was detected today in South 24 Parganas and West Midnapore taking the number of affected districts to 13 out of a total 19 in West Bengal.

Authorities of the two districts confirmed the spread of avian flu and said that culling operation would begin tomorrow. West Midnapore District Magistrate N S Nigam said samples of chicken sent from Chakbelcha village in Debra block of Kharagpur subdivision had tested positive.

In South 24 Parganas the disease tested positive in Budge Budge, District Magistrate Sanghamitra Ghosh said. Nigam said 40 teams would start culling operations in five km radius of Chakbelcha on Monday.

Meanwhile, birdflu spread to Baro Khalasamari at Mathabhanga block in affected Coochbehar district, where the disease had hit four villages in Dinhata bocks I and II.

In the affected district of Howrah, avian flu spread to Panchla in addition to Sankrail. Reports from the district said a fox and other birds like falcon were found dead there. About 15.75 lakh hens and cocks have already been culled so far out of the target of 22 lakh in 11 districts and 1.25 lakh had died, West Bengal Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rehman said during the day. "The rest of the birds would be culled tomorrow," he said.


http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-b...=3501848&BV_ID=@@@</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Shannon Bennett]

Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

We have never to my knowledge ever had this much activity in b2b transmission. The geographical spread is staggering in such a short period of time. West Bengal, a significant portion of Bangladesh and suspicious bird deaths north into Nepal. As of yet we have not seen the same kind of cross-over to humans we have seen in other endemic areas. For that reason I am putting my tin hat next to me but, not on my head. No one here, to my knowledge, is suggesting this is the end. But, it would be bizarre to suggest there wasn't cause for some concern. The sheer numbers of possible b2h infections should cause us to sit up and take notice if nothing else.

[sharon sanders]

Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

We have never to my knowledge ever had this much activity in b2b transmission. The geographical spread is staggering in such a short period of time. West Bengal, a significant portion of Bangladesh and suspicious bird deaths north into Nepal. As of yet we have not seen the same kind of cross-over to humans we have seen in other endemic areas. For that reason I am putting my tin hat next to me but, not on my head. No one here, to my knowledge, is suggesting this is the end. But, it would be bizarre to suggest there wasn't cause for some concern. The sheer numbers of possible b2h infections should cause us to sit up and take notice if nothing else.

We do not fully know what has gone on in other countries/continents.

This situation is a concern, of course. It is an environmental situation that could have dire consequences if proper hygiene and recommended procedures are not followed.

It may also provide for the "dual infection" option.

[HenryN]

Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

Flu scare in Budge Budge
Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, Jan. 28: After residents of Bhangar, it is the turn of the people of Budge Budge in South 24-Parganas to come under the grip of avian flu scare.
Panic spread among the residents of Budge Budge after the district administration announced that bird flu has hit the block taking the number of districts affected by bird flu in the state to 13. Budge Budge, according to a senior state animal resources and development department official, is the new addition to the list of bird flu affected blocks in the state. A total 44 blocks of the state have been hit.
The trade of chicken in some villages in Budge Budge has been banned after the news of birds affected by the H5N1 virus dying in villages like Kashipur and Alampur spread to the other villages.
Though the administrative officials said that there was no cause for panic, residents of these villages have stopped buying chicken resulting in a fall of price of chicken.
The district magistrate, Ms Sanghamitra Ghosh, held a meeting with other district health and animal resources department officials yesterday evening after they came to know that blood samples, sent to a laboratory in Bhopal, tested positive for H5N1 virus. According to a senior district administrative official, blood samples of four dead birds were sent to Bhopal last week after death of few chickens were reported.
Earlier, bird flu scare broke out at Bhangar following death of more than 500 chickens in a few poultry farms. Blood samples of dead birds have been sent to Bhopal from Bhangar. Reports of blood tests are awaited. A part from this, bird flu scare also spread to some villages in Baruipur and Diamond Harbour in South 24-Parganas after a large number of birds died within a span of seven days in these villages.
A senior district animal resources and development officer said that culling of birds has been ordered in Budge Budge yesterday and rapid response teams have been set up to carry out the culling operations. Authorities of local panchayats have been asked to assist the rapid response team members for smooth culling operations. Supporters of political parties and members of non government organisations will also assist rapid response team members to carry out the culling operations.

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=6&theme=&usrsess=1&id=187749

[HenryN]

Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

Flu scare in Budge Budge

Earlier, bird flu scare broke out at Bhangar following death of more than 500 chickens in a few poultry farms. Blood samples of dead birds have been sent to Bhopal from Bhangar. Reports of blood tests are awaited. A part from this, bird flu scare also spread to some villages in Baruipur and Diamond Harbour in South 24-Parganas after a large number of birds died within a span of seven days in these villages.

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.new...ss=1&id=187749

Notice that results are not back from Bhangar and there is no mention of samples sent from Baruipur or Diamond Harbour.

[HenryN]

Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

From Jammu and Kashmir, other State in India

BIRD FLU?

GK NEWS NETWORK

Srinagar, Jan 28: Jammu and Kashmir government has sent samples of two migratory birds, found dead in a wetland near the border, to Bhopal for bird flu tests. The import of poultry has declined after a drop in the local consumption.

However, veterinary expert Dr F A Kaloo says there was no report of any bird flu case from any part of the state. He said all measures have been taken to prevent transportation of any such virus into the state.

Dr Kaloo said two birds were found dead in Gharana wetland near the border in Jammu. However, official sources said half a dozen birds have died due to a ?mysterious disease.?
??Nobody should draw a conclusion that birds have died due to bird flu. We have collected samples of the dead birds and sent them to Bhopal for tests,?? he said, adding people should not panic.

Dr Kaloo said, ??We are waiting for test results and will act accordingly.?? There was no question of bird flu virus reaching the state from West Bengal. There are several states in between which are still safe, he added.

He said constant check is being carried out at different places even though there was no case of bird flu reported from any part of the state so far.

We have organised awareness camps to make people aware about various ailment afflicting cattle and poultry birds including bird flu, Dr Kaloo said. He said so far the samples taken for bird flu were found negative and there was no need to worry. A check post has been set up at Lakhanpore, the gateway of Jammu and Kashmir, bordering Punjab, where doctors and other staff members of the Animal Husbandry department were posted to check poultry birds before allowing them to enter the state.

Similarly, check post has been set up at Qazigund, they said, adding that they have made all arrangements to prevent the virus to enter the state.
However, for precautionary measures the department has decided to impose ban on the movement of poultry during night when proper checking was almost impossible, they said.

Official sources said there was a decline in the import of poultry from other states during the past two weeks because of a drop in the consumption. More than 30,000 birds were being consumed daily in the valley. However, the number increases during festival and marriage season.

Fish was in great demand as most butcher shops remained closed due to shortage of sheep and goats.
To meet any challenge, the state health department has directed all Medical Officers in the state to remain prepared.
The health department has also directed all rapid response teams to be ready in case of any contingency, they said.

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_s...emID=50&cat=21

India-Kashmir-Bird Flu Scare
Two migratory birds found dead due to a 'mysterious disease' at a nature reserve in southern Kashmir have been sent for bird flu tests, Kashmir's Department for Animal Husbandry said Monday.
Official sources however said half a dozen birds have been found dead due to 'mysterious disease' so far.
The latest case comes after restrictions were imposed on the movement of poultry or other captive birds from eastern Indian states where outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza has been reported from several areas.
Jammu and Kashmir government has sent samples of the migratory birds, found dead in a wetland near border with Pakistan in Jammu region, to Animal Disease Lab in Bhopal for bird flu tests, an official spokesman said. The spokesman added that the development was "not unexpected" but there was no evidence to suggest the disease had spread to the wider wild bird population or domestic birds here.
Around this time of the year hundreds of thousands of migratory birds visit the Kashmir Valley's wetlands. Experts fear they could carry the killer virus to the state.
"The H5N1 avian influenza virus could be carried by vectors like migratory birds, all kinds of poultry birds, poultry feed, eggs etc," a veterinarian said adding that it can also be air borne.
He said a strict vigil is being maintained at all the wetlands including Hokarsar, Aanchar, Dal, Haigam etc.
World's first case of the virulent strain, which has killed more than 200 people worldwide since 2003, was in a dead swan found in a Scottish fishing village in Britain in 2006.

http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0801291652004249.htm

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

Commentary

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

Commentary

Alarming Spread of H5N1 in Southern West Bengal

Recombinomics Commentary 17:44
January 28, 2008

In West Midnapore, where the avian influenza affected only one village on Sunday, the disease spread to 107 villages in Debra block, District Magistrate N S Nigam said.

The above comments on H5N1 spread in southern West Bengal are alarming. The site of the spread is near the Orissa border (see satellite maps here and here) and suspect cases and activity in Orissa has been noted.

In addition to this activity in southern West Bengal, increases in activity in southern Bangladesh have also been noted in recent days. The massive die offs of crows in West Bengal and Bangladesh suggest control of the H5N1 spread will be difficult.

In addition to wild and domestic poultry deaths, there have also been reports of deaths in the regions reporting the highest H5N1 activity. There have been media reports of goat deaths at multiple sites in Birbhum and Murshidabad in addition to suspect human cases. There have also been reports of fish and cattle die offs in the south, including West Midnapore.

Culling operations are trailing H5N1 reports, as indicated by the outbreak noted above in the Debra block. Testing has been minimal, which has limited reports of confirmed H5N1. However, H5N1 spread is not dependent on official confirmations, and excessive poultry deaths in surrounding areas continue to increase.

More aggressive testing and reporting would be useful. The excessive exposure of villagers to confirmed H5N1 raises serious questions about the lack of reported human cases.


.

[HenryN]

Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01290801/H5N1_Calcutta_Species.html

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

Commentary at

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

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Species Spread of H5N1 in Calcutta Suburbs

Recombinomics Commentary 01:19
January 29, 2008

In the affected district of Howrah, avian flu spread to Panchla in addition to Sankrail. Reports from the district said a fox and other birds like falcon were found dead there.

The above comments describe likely spread of H5N1 to additional species in the Calcutta suburbs that have tested positive for H5N1 (see satellite map here and here).

Although West Bengal has not confirmed H5N1 in additional species, Bangladesh has reported H5N1 confirmation in massive crow deaths in north and south Bangladesh. Videos of initial outbreaks in Birbhum also showed large numbers of dead crows in regions where poultry died. Similarly, crow deaths have been described in multiple regions in West Bengal.

The spread of H5N1 to these additional species hampers control of H5N1. Although Calcutta has been sealed, the additional species provide vectors that can navigate over and through poultry checkpoints on Calcutta?s borders.

Similarly, these wild species also impacts control of H5N1 at the borders with neighboring districts or countries. Although alerts have been issued and checkpoints have been increased, further spread of H5N1 is likely and excessive poultry deaths suggest H5N1 has already crossed into adjacent districts and countries.

More extensive testing and reporting in these border areas would be useful.

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[HenryN]

Re: India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle width="80%">?Not a Single Instance of Birdflu Reported in Tamil Nadu? Asserts TN Government

</TD><TD vAlign=top width="20%" rowSpan=3><SCRIPT type=text/javascript><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-4864473589052117"; google_alternate_ad_url = "http://www.medindia.net/adpeeps/tribal_160x600.asp"; google_ad_width = 160; google_ad_height = 600; google_ad_format = "160x600_as"; google_color_border = "ffffff"; google_color_bg = "ffffff"; google_color_link = "000080"; google_color_url = "008000"; google_color_text = "000080"; google_ad_channel ="9080713840"; //--></SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type=text/javascript> </SCRIPT>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tv12black style="PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px" vAlign=top align=justify width="80%"><!--**Start**-->The state government of Tamil Nadu announced that it is safe to eat poultry products.

?The State Government of Tamil Nadu? stressed that there was no single instance of [COLOR=#669900! important][COLOR=#669900! important]bird [COLOR=#669900! important]flu[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] detected in Tamil Nadu and encouraged the public to eat poultry products.

The press release said that after thorough tests and exhaustive postmortem of the poultry deaths from Bodinayakanoor in Theni district and Devedanampatti it has been found that the birds had died of starvation and not due to bird flu.

Legal cases have been recorded against the concerned poultry farms for not duly reporting the authorities about the bird deaths and disposing off the carcasses appropriately.

Source-Medindia
SPH/K
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http://www.medindia.net/news/view_main_print_new.asp