India (incl. West Bengal) - Poultry (December 2008 -)

[Commonground]

Re: West Bengal - Poultry (December 2008 -)

Assam and West Bengal in the establishment of bird flu alert

Jan 02, 12:42 am
Lkimpur, January 1: Malda district of West Bengal and Assam in the notice of the outbreak of bird flu on livestock department has been cautious. One day last year from West Bengal to reach Cuge Lkimpur were from Shahjahanpur. Dr. Pinki link DM Jovl monitoring the animal husbandry department has directed.

Dr. V. P. Singh, chief veterinary medical officer of the district veterinary medical directed that the poultry they keep watch on Hencri Prkshetron and private. Where to purchase grain and Cuge and they are also brought to the regular care. He said that the West Bengal district of imported grain Cuge and may not enter, for this special is being monitored.

Dr. Singh for the prevention of bird flu bio-security and clean - cleaning zone for the relevant information to owners of poultry and their parents to keep a list of vendors and medical instructions given to the animals are. Dr. V. P. Singh, chief veterinary medical officer has appealed a group of chickens die in the information to be hidden, but immediate notice to be given to the Animal Husbandry Department. He said that the place in the district - where the five serum samples each month for regular check-up is being sent to Pune. In Uttar Pradesh, where bird flu is not. Assam and West Bengal in the wake of the outbreak in the district is going Brti precaution.
Dr. Singh said bird flu in chicken, turkey, guinea Kaul, ducks and other birds are infected. Wild aquatic birds are carriers of bird flu. Veterinary and human health from the point of view of infection in poultry is very important. Pramukt bird flu in humans: is spread by eating infected poultry meat.

Bird flu to protect clean - cleaning is necessary. Infected birds died in the boiling water Dubokr pressed to go deep in the ditch. Poultry should burn houses of the bed.

[HenryN]

Re: West Bengal - Poultry (December 2008 -)

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01040901/H5N1_WB_Surveillance.html

[Giuseppe]

Re: West Bengal - Poultry (December 2008 -)

India: Culling operations continuing in Kamrup, Nagaon

Culling operations continuing in Kamrup, Nagaon

morungexpress
January 05, 2009 09:19:00
Guwahati, January 4, (PTI):

Assam might soon be declared a "Bird fly free zone" after culling of poultry ends in Kamrup (Rural) and Nagaon districts.


According to official sources, culling operations were going on in the two districts while they have been completed in Kamrup (Metro), Nalbari, Barpeta, Nalbari, Dibrugarh, Bongaigoan and Chirang districts.

"After the culling operation in Kamrup (Rural) and Nagaon district are over the state will be declared birdflu free zone" a source said.

Nearly six lakh birds have been so far been culled in Kamrup (Metro), Nalbari, Barpeta, Chirang, Dibrugargh and Bongaigoan district.

The Centre had directed the state government to go for post operation surveillance programme in the areas where culling was conducted in accordance with the norms of the World Organization of Animal Health.Accordingly, deputy commissioners of districts where culling was over conducted the post operation surveillance programme and submitted sanitisation certificates to the Centre.

Currently culling operations are on in Chalchali and Gaonburachwk in Nagaon and Maniari Tinali and Manahkuchi villages in Kamrup (Rural).

The authorities have been facing stiff resistance from the local people who along with poultry farmers are opposing culling by alleging that the compensation amount was not enough to meet the losses incurred due to the outbreak of avian flu.


Culling begins in bird flu-hit Darjeeling Siliguri, January 4 (Agencies):

Authorities in West Bengal on Sunday began culling operations in the bird flu-hit Darjeeling and Siliguri subdivisions, officials said.

"A three-day culling operation has begun in the affected areas of Siliguri. Twenty-four teams comprising of a total of 200 veterinary workers have culled at least 100 chickens since morning," Sarod Dwivedi, sub-divisional officer of Siliguri, told reporters.

The district administration had on Saturday ordered the culling of about 60,000 poultry at Pubang in Takhdra of Darjeeling subdivision and Matigara in Siliguri subdivision. Dwivedi said that authorities were not facing any resistance from farmers.

"People are willingly handing over their chickens to our workers. For the time being, each household is getting a compensation of Rs.500. But we will soon be having a high-level meeting to decide the compensation to be paid to poultry farmers and if any animal can be given in exchange of the birds," Dwivedi said.

In Darjeeling subdivision, nine culling teams started operations on Sunday. Said Milan Halder, Deputy Director of Animal Husbandry Department of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC): "Culling operations have started. Initially we have only nine teams, but the number will increase as and when required."

Culling operations will also be carried out in Phulbari of Jalpaiguri district, which comes under the radius zone. Sale and consumption of poultry and poultry products have been banned in the affected areas.

Alarmed at the death of 80 poultry birds at Pubang in Takhdra of Darjeeling subdivision and 67 poultry birds at Matigara in Siliguri subdivision within a week, the district administration sent the samples to the High Security Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Bhopal. One of the samples tested positive for avian flu. The development came 18 days after bird flu struck Malda district in the State.
-

<cite cite="http://www.morungexpress.com/regional/10979.html">Culling operations continuing in Kamrup, Nagaon</cite>

[HenryN]

Re: West Bengal - Poultry (December 2008 -)

Culling starts in Bengal districts


Siliguri (West Bengal), Jan. 4: Authorities in West Bengal on Sunday began culling operations in the bird flu-hit Darjeeling and Siliguri sub-divisions, officials said. "A three-day culling operation has begun in the affected areas of Siliguri. Twenty-four teams comprising of a total of 200 veterinary workers have culled at least 100 chickens since morning," Sarod Dwivedi, sub-divisional officer of Siliguri, told reporters. The district administration had on Saturday ordered the culling of about 60,000 poultry at Pubang in Takhdra of Darjeeling subdivision and Matigara in Siliguri sub-division.
The official said that authorities were not facing any resistance from farmers. "People are willingly handing over their chickens to our workers. For the time being, each household is getting a compensation of Rs 500. But we will soon be having a high-level meeting to decide the compensation to be paid to poultry farmers and if any animal can be given in exchange of the birds," the official said. In Darjeeling sub-division, nine culling teams started operations on Sunday. Said Milan Halder, deputy director of Animal Husbandry Department of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC): "Culling operations have started. Initially we have only nine teams, but the number will increase as and when required." Culling operations will also be carried out in Phulbari of Jalpaiguri district, which comes under the radius zone. ?IANS

http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftnavigation/news/india/culling-starts-in-bengal-districts.aspx

[HenryN]

Re: West Bengal - Poultry (December 2008 -)

<TABLE style="PADDING-LEFT: 10px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="100%">Bird flu spreads to Hills, culling begins</ARTTITLE>
5 Jan 2009, 0211 hrs IST, TNN
</TD></TR><TR><TD>

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left><!-- google_ad_section_start -->DARJEELING: A day after culling operations began at Matigara near Siliguri, bird flu spread to the Hills, with officials confirming an outbreak of the dreaded poultry disease at Pubung, about 30 km from Darjeeling. Culling operations began on Sunday.

Sale and farming of chickens has been banned within a 10-km radius of Pubung panchayat in Takdah block. However, Darjeeling town itself is not under the purview of the ban.

The Bhopal-based High Security Animal Disease Laboratory confirmed the disease on January 2, but the news reached the district late and all through Saturday the administration got the teams together for Sunday's operations.

According to Darjeeling DM Surendra Gupta, over 700 chickens will be culled in two days.

The samples were sent to Bhopal after 35-40 chickens died mysteriously over the past week. "The high number of deaths prompted us to send the samples to Bhopal," said Gupta.

The test on the dead chickens confirmed the H5N1 virus and accordingly the state government was informed. The government issued a notification and instructed the district administration to carry out culling operations.


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Kolkata_/Bird_flu_spreads_to_Hills_culling_begins/rssarticleshow/3935316.cms

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: West Bengal - Poultry (December 2008 -)

Commentary

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

Commentary

Confirmed H5N1 in West Bengal Raises Surveillance Concerns
Recombinomics Commentary 17:05
January 4, 2009

Siliguri SDO Sharad Dwivedi said culling started at Rajgunj block of Jalpaiguri, Matigara block of Siliguri police station, 34 wards of Siliguri Municipal Corporation and at Pubung under Takda block of Darjeeling sadar.

The above comments provide more detail on the culling in the two West Bengal districts, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling. As noted these areas on the outskirts of Siliguri are surrounded by national parks and wildlife sanctuaries (see zoomed map), strongly suggesting the involvement of wild birds in the spread.

However, the latest outbreaks are only 20-30 miles from international borders with Nepal, China, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, as well as Indian states of Bihar and Sikkim, suggesting H5N1 is in these locations also. However, only Bangladesh has reported recent H5N1 outbreaks, raising serious questions about surveillance in these adjacent regions (see expanded map).

The results this season are similar to last season. That outbreak was confirmed in mid-January and confirmed cases were limited to West Bengal and Bangladesh. There were no confirmed cases in adjacent regions (other than confirmation by China in Tibet). India did culling in adjacent regions, including Assam and Meghalaya, but there was no H5N1 confirmation last season, and only Assam has confirmed H5N1 this season.

The absence of reported H5N1 in these areas reflects poor surveillance or insensitive testing. Routine surveillance uses tests for antibodies, which are insensitive, and tests of cloacal swabs or fecal samples in areas frequented by wild birds, which are also less sensitive than nasphayngeal swabs or tissue extracts. India has yet to report a positive in a migratory bird and reported H5N1 in crows for the first time a few weeks ago, even though dead wild birds associated with dead poultry was widely reported last season in India (and confirmed in wild birds in adjacent regions in Bangladesh).

The H5N1 outbreaks in India and Bangladesh this season are likely to challenge the record levels reported last season, yet surveillance programs in adjacent areas reamain highly suspect.

.

[HenryN]

Re: West Bengal - Poultry (December 2008 -)

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100&#37;"><TBODY><TR><TD class=articleheader>Ban on poultry in Siliguri
- 3500 birds culled till 9pm

</TD></TR><TR><TD class=articleauthor>OUR CORRESPONDENT</TD></TR><TR><TD class=story align=left><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=172 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=articleauthor align=left>Chickens being culled in Kamrangaguri in Jalpaiguri district on Sunday. (Kundan Yolmo) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Siliguri, Jan. 4: The sale of poultry and eggs has been banned within 10km of the bird flu-affected areas of Matigara. The entire Siliguri town and Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri district will come under the ban.

“It will be implemented from tomorrow,” Sarad Dwivedi, the subdivisional officer of Siliguri, said at a news conference this evening.
The administration had announced the presence of the H5N1 virus yesterday after reports arrived from the High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory in Bhopal, which had tested the samples collected from dead chickens.
Matigara I and II, Champasari, Sukna, Atharokhai, Jalas and Patharghata are the gram panchayats where the avian flu has been detected. Besides, 34 wards of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (out of 47) are also affected. Some of these wards are in the Rajganj block. The unaffected wards are from 21-24 and 35-43.
“Twenty-four teams, comprising five employees of the animal resource development (ARD) department, two staff members of the block concerned and an equal number of policemen, have culled 3,500 till 9pm,” Dwivedi told The Telegraph later. The culling will continue till midnight. The administration had set a target of 60,000 birds to be culled in the next few days.
Unlike in Malda, where culling teams had to face stiff resistance in several villages under Narhatta gram panchayat, culling here was peaceful and steady.
The bird flu scare from Friday had started affecting poultry sales from yesterday morning. The traders claimed that there has been a drop in the price of chicken in different markets across the town and its surroundings.
“We have been forced to reduce the price in different markets here to Rs 50-55 per kg. It usually varies between Rs 70 and Rs 80 per kg,” said Ratan Pal, the secretary of the Siliguri Poultry Byabsayee Samiti, which has more than 500 members.
Pal said the sale had been affected since the detection of the flu in Malda. “Since then, the state governments of Sikkim and Assam had banned the movement of poultry and eggs from the region.”

http://www.telegraphindia.com/109010...y_10343644.jsp

</TD></TR><TR><TD class=story vAlign=top align=right></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><SCRIPT language=javascript> <!-- if(agent.indexOf("msie") != -1) { document.writeln("</div>"); } //--> </SCRIPT>

[HenryN]

Re: West Bengal - Poultry (December 2008 -)

Updated map

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=106484775090296685271.00045da2c3c24f4d59de3&t=p&ll=26.985724,88.077393&spn=4.346236,6.37207&z=7

[HenryN]

Re: West Bengal - Poultry (December 2008 -)

Bird Flu: Poultry sale banned in Siliguri
Statesman News Service
SILIGURI, Jan. 4: With the outbreak of bird flu at Matigara, Phansidewa and the Rajganj blocks, the civil administration today put a ban on the sale and consumption of poultry items in Siliguri town.
As per the SDO Siliguri Mr Sharad Kumar Dwivedi, the ban has been imposed for an indefinite period beginning this noon and action would be taken for any violation. ?The ban is effective within a 10-km radius of the Binoy Krishana Pally, Matigara where the bird flu outbreak was confirmed first. This implies that major part of Siliguri town is under the ban,? the SDO said adding that the administration would undertake a publicity drive to make the public aware. According to him, the Siliguri wards 21-24 and 35-43 are not within the ambit of the avian flu as yet but the administration was keeping a cautious eye on these localities.
Culling
Culling of domesticated fowls in the bird flu hit Matigara and Phansidewa blocks in Siliguri subdivision and the adjacent Rajganj block in Jalpaguri district is progressing in a sluggish rate with mere 388 birds been culled until 5 pm today out of the total 18,000 target. The drive was initiated from 8 pm yesterday.
Culling operations have also begun in Takdah block in the Darjeeling Hills with a target of slaughtering 700 birds. All these four blocks were confirmed of bird flu infection late on Friday but the official notification for culling reached the district administration on Saturday morning.
According to the Darjeeling district magistrate Mr Surendra Gupta, altogether 24 culling teams are at work in the affected localities.The state government has in the meantime has provided Rs 50-lakh for the culling operations. The compensation against culling of a bird has been fixed at Rs 50 for layer and Ginny fowl, Rs 40 for broiler, Rs 75 for duck and Rs 150 for turkey.
In Siliguri, the civil administration has opened a 24-hour control room at Pintail Village resort at Dagapur for monitoring the bird flu situation and also the progress of the culling operations.

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=10&theme=&usrsess=1&id=238983

[HenryN]

Re: West Bengal - Poultry (December 2008 -)

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100&#37;"><TBODY><TR><TD class=articleheader>Ban on poultry in Siliguri
- 3500 birds culled till 9pm


</TD></TR><TR><TD class=articleauthor>OUR CORRESPONDENT</TD></TR><TR><TD class=story align=left><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=172 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=articleauthor align=left>Chickens being culled in Kamrangaguri in Jalpaiguri district on Sunday. (Kundan Yolmo) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Siliguri, Jan. 4: The sale of poultry and eggs has been banned within 10km of the bird flu-affected areas of Matigara. The entire Siliguri town and Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri district will come under the ban.

“It will be implemented from tomorrow,” Sarad Dwivedi, the subdivisional officer of Siliguri, said at a news conference this evening.
The administration had announced the presence of the H5N1 virus yesterday after reports arrived from the High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory in Bhopal, which had tested the samples collected from dead chickens.
Matigara I and II, Champasari, Sukna, Atharokhai, Jalas and Patharghata are the gram panchayats where the avian flu has been detected. Besides, 34 wards of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (out of 47) are also affected. Some of these wards are in the Rajganj block. The unaffected wards are from 21-24 and 35-43.
“Twenty-four teams, comprising five employees of the animal resource development (ARD) department, two staff members of the block concerned and an equal number of policemen, have culled 3,500 till 9pm,” Dwivedi told The Telegraph later. The culling will continue till midnight. The administration had set a target of 60,000 birds to be culled in the next few days.
Unlike in Malda, where culling teams had to face stiff resistance in several villages under Narhatta gram panchayat, culling here was peaceful and steady.
The bird flu scare from Friday had started affecting poultry sales from yesterday morning. The traders claimed that there has been a drop in the price of chicken in different markets across the town and its surroundings.
“We have been forced to reduce the price in different markets here to Rs 50-55 per kg. It usually varies between Rs 70 and Rs 80 per kg,” said Ratan Pal, the secretary of the Siliguri Poultry Byabsayee Samiti, which has more than 500 members.
Pal said the sale had been affected since the detection of the flu in Malda. “Since then, the state governments of Sikkim and Assam had banned the movement of poultry and eggs from the region.”

http://www.telegraphindia.com/109010...y_10343644.jsp

</TD></TR><TR><TD class=story vAlign=top align=right></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><SCRIPT language=javascript> <!-- if(agent.indexOf("msie") != -1) { document.writeln("</div>"); } //--> </SCRIPT>

A house in Siliguri


Siliguri is experiencing a rapid expansion of its population. In a 2001 India census,<SUP id=cite_ref-0 class=reference>[1]</SUP> the number of residents was 420,275. According to estimates for 2008, 559,275 people live in the city.<SUP id=cite_ref-1 class=reference>[2]</SUP>. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Siliguri has an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; male literacy is 75%, and female literacy is 65%. In Siliguri, 12% of the population is under six years of age.
Siliguri is a cosmopolitan city with Bengali, Bihari, Nepali, Marwari, and Punjabi people living peacefully. The Rajbanshi people, who originally owned most of the land, have decreased in population. Biharis, Gorkhalis, Marwaris, Punjabis and Bengalis are now the most prominent communities here. Bengali, Hindi and Nepali are the commonly spoken regional languages.
Siliguri has seen waves of massive immigration over the years. Most prominent being the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Nepal and migrants from Assam. In addition, people from Bihar and other parts of India are also coming to the city in search of livelihood. The influx has led to an abnormally high population growth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siliguri

[hawkeye]

Re: HONG KONG: One Human case of Avian Influenza A/H9N2 infection, confirmed by HK authorities

ARD wakes up before it?s too late

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=1&theme=&usrsess=1&id=238903

Pranesh Sarkar
KOLKATA, Jan. 4:. Realising that spread of bird flu virus could spell a disaster in the hills of Darjeeling due to the on-going agitation of the Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha, the state animal resources development department (ARD) has decided to cull all birds in a hill village where unusual mortality of poultry birds has been reported, even though the presence of the virus is not confirmed yet.
Senior ARD officials said though presence of bird flu virus was yet to be confirmed in the village, it has been decided that all birds in and around the village would be culled to stop the spread of the virus, suspected to be H5N1.
A senior ARD official told The Statesman: ?The decision was taken after presence of bird flu was confirmed in Matigara block located in the plains in Darjeeling district on Saturday. After unusual mortality of poultry birds was also reported from Dasberia village in Takada block, it was decided that the department would cull all birds in the hill village without waiting for bird flu confirmation reports.?
?If bird flu spreads to the hills rapidly, it would be tough for the department to keep a lid on it as the hills are already boiling over the Gorkhaland agitation. Culling of poultry birds in a large area of the hills would certainly be a problem in a situation like this,? the official added.
Mr K Saha, director, ARD, said, ?Poultry birds in the village would be culled without the confirmation of bird flu as unusual mortality of birds has been reported. The step was taken after we realised that if bird flu spreads rapidly in the hills, it would be tough to stop the spread because of its geographical location. If we wait for bird flu confirmation test reports, the process would be delayed and if the disease is bird flu, it could spread to vast areas by that period.?
The presence of H5N1 virus was confirmed in Matigara on 3 January and prior to this bird flu had hit Malda on 15 December. The state had earlier sought the Centre's assistance to carry out routine surveillance of poultry birds in the hills after the GJMM agitation started, as state officials were facing obstacles in their work in the area.

[hawkeye]

Re: HONG KONG: One Human case of Avian Influenza A/H9N2 infection, confirmed by HK authorities

Bird Flu: Poultry sale banned in Siliguri

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=10&theme=&usrsess=1&id=238983

Statesman News Service
SILIGURI, Jan. 4: With the outbreak of bird flu at Matigara, Phansidewa and the Rajganj blocks, the civil administration today put a ban on the sale and consumption of poultry items in Siliguri town.
As per the SDO Siliguri Mr Sharad Kumar Dwivedi, the ban has been imposed for an indefinite period beginning this noon and action would be taken for any violation. ?The ban is effective within a 10-km radius of the Binoy Krishana Pally, Matigara where the bird flu outbreak was confirmed first. This implies that major part of Siliguri town is under the ban,? the SDO said adding that the administration would undertake a publicity drive to make the public aware. According to him, the Siliguri wards 21-24 and 35-43 are not within the ambit of the avian flu as yet but the administration was keeping a cautious eye on these localities.
Culling
Culling of domesticated fowls in the bird flu hit Matigara and Phansidewa blocks in Siliguri subdivision and the adjacent Rajganj block in Jalpaguri district is progressing in a sluggish rate with mere 388 birds been culled until 5 pm today out of the total 18,000 target. The drive was initiated from 8 pm yesterday.
Culling operations have also begun in Takdah block in the Darjeeling Hills with a target of slaughtering 700 birds. All these four blocks were confirmed of bird flu infection late on Friday but the official notification for culling reached the district administration on Saturday morning.
According to the Darjeeling district magistrate Mr Surendra Gupta, altogether 24 culling teams are at work in the affected localities.The state government has in the meantime has provided Rs 50-lakh for the culling operations. The compensation against culling of a bird has been fixed at Rs 50 for layer and Ginny fowl, Rs 40 for broiler, Rs 75 for duck and Rs 150 for turkey.
In Siliguri, the civil administration has opened a 24-hour control room at Pintail Village resort at Dagapur for monitoring the bird flu situation and also the progress of the culling operations.

[HenryN]

Re: West Bengal - Poultry (December 2008 -)

AVIAN INFLUENZA (02): INDIA (WEST BENGAL)
*****************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: Sat 3 Jan 2009
Source: Indopia, Press Trust of India (PTI) report [edited]
<http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/print-467900.html>


Bird flu in 2 Bengal districts
------------------------------
Bird flu has been detected afresh in West Bengal's Darjeeling and
Jalpaiguri districts and culling of 65 000 birds will begin tomorrow
[4 Jan 2008], official sources said today [3 Jan 2008].

The epicentres of the avian influenza in Darjeeling district were
Benoy Krishna Palli village under Matigara village of Siliguri
sub-division and Pubang village under Sadar sub-division in the
hills, district magistrate Surendra Gupta told a press conference [in
Siliguri].

Altogether 30 culling teams would start work in full swing from
tomorrow morning [4 Jan 2008], Gupta said. A control room headed by a
deputy director of Animal Husbandry has been opened at Pintal village
[in Siliguri] on the outskirts of the town, he said.

Gupta said there was no notification to stop sale and consumption of
birds and poultry products outside the 5 km (3 mi) radius of the 2
epicentres. [INR] 50 lakh [USD 104 000) has been allotted for culling
operations, which included 34 wards under Siliguri Municipal
Corporation.

Bird flu has also been confirmed in adjacent gram panchayats [local
government at village level] 1 and 2 in Fulbari in Jalpaiguri
district, its DM Bandana Yadav said. 10 culling teams had been formed
and 4000 birds would be culled from tomorrow [4 Jan 2008], she said.

Earlier, over 20 000 birds were culled in Malda in mid-December
[2008] after the H5N1 virus was confirmed in the north Bengal
district.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall

[H5N1 spread into West Bengal, probably westwards from Assam, has
been already noted in ProMED-mail postings 20081217.3970 and
20090103.0023. This spread, including the 2 foci described in the
newswire above, is yet to be notified to the OIE (World Organisation
for Animal Health).

For the chronology, epidemiological details, control measures
applied, and a map of the epizootic in Assam, see OIE's WAHID (World
Animal Health Information Database) summary of the Indian situation at
<http://www.oie.int/wahis/public.php?page=event_summary&reportid=7566>.
- Mod.AS

The HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of India is available at
<http://healthmap.org/promed/en?v=22.9,79.6,5>. - CopyEd.MJ]

[see also:
Avian influenza (01): India (AS), Viet Nam 20090103.0023
2008
----
Avian influenza (132): India (AS) 20081231.4124
Avian influenza (122): Cambodia, China, India, Taiwan (susp) 20081218.3992
Avian influenza (120): India (WB) 20081217.3970
Avian influenza (118): China (HK), India (AS), OIE 20081215.3938
Avian influenza (117): China (HK), H5N1, India (Assam) 20081212.3909
Avian influenza, poultry vs migratory birds (11): India (Assam) 20081130.3765
Avian influenza (114): India (AS) HPAI OIE 20081129.3757
Avian influenza (113): India (AS), HPAI conf. 20081128.3749
Avian influenza (112): India (AS), susp., alert, RFI 20081127.3740]
........................................arn/mj/jw

[HenryN]

Re: West Bengal - Poultry (December 2008 -)

Suliguri 5 day forecast

<TABLE class=full cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
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<TABLE class=dataTable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><THEAD><TR><TD class=taC style="WIDTH: 20%">Monday</TD><TD class=taC style="WIDTH: 20%">Tuesday</TD><TD class=taC style="WIDTH: 20%">Wednesday</TD><TD class=taC style="WIDTH: 20%">Thursday</TD><TD class=taC style="WIDTH: 20%">Friday</TD></TR></THEAD><TBODY><TR class="wHover noBorder"><TD class=taC>
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[HenryN]

Re: West Bengal - Poultry (December 2008 -)

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><H1>Bird flu appears again in heavily populated region of India</H1></TD></TR><TR><TD class=article-author> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=article-date>Published: Monday, 5-Jan-2009 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Another outbreak of deadly bird flu in India has put health authorities on high alert following the deaths of thousands of chickens.

This latest confirmed outbreak of the H5N1 virus is the fourth to occur in the eastern West Bengal state in the past year.
West Bengal Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rahaman says several thousands of poultry have died in Darjeeling's hilly Mathigarah villages of Siliguri and Pubang and samples taken from the dead poultry have tested positive for bird flu.
A further 20,000 infected birds are being culled by 30 culling teams sent to the affected areas but beyond the 5 km radius of the two epicentres there are no restrictions on the selling and consumption of birds and poultry products.
In 2008 the West Bengal state authorities were forced to slaughter five million poultry to control the virus during India's worst bird flu outbreak when the virus spread to 14 of the 19 districts in the state.
West Bengal is heavily populated and has more than 80 million people but India has not had any reported human cases of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus to date.
In December officials in the northeast state of Assam culled 250,000 chickens in order to control the spread of the deadly infection, which had sparked fears of a human case after a number of people were reportedly sick.
Bird flu first appeared in India in 2006 and it has resurfaced from time to time causing millions of chicken and ducks to be culled to contain the virus.
Experts have been warning since 2003 that 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 World Health Organisation, H5N1 bird flu has infected more than 390 people in 15 countries and killed at least 247 of them since the virus resurfaced in Asia in 2003.

http://www.news-medical.net/print_article.asp?id=44623