Bihar government orders culling in Katihar

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Bihar government orders culling in Katihar</ARTTITLE>
23 Jan 2008, 1806 hrs IST

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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>PATNA: The Bihar government on Wednesday ordered culling of chicken in six panchayat areas in Katihar district, adjacent to affected Malda district of West Bengal, as a preventive measure, a day after imposing a blanket ban on entry of poultry from the neighbouring state.

There is, however, no report of any instance of bird flu in Katihar and the culling in the six panchayat areas is a preventive measure, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi said.

"We have received reports about a suspected case of bird flu at Mohammedpur in Malda district, hardly 5 km from Katihar. We are in constant touch with the West Bengal government about it," Deputy Chief Minister S Modi, who is also in-charge of animal and fishery resources department, said.

Katihar district authorities have been directed to coordinate with their counterpart in Malda and carry out culling of chicken in six panchayats identified as Khasota, Mimaua, Deogaon, Sitalpati, Garghatu and Anarsinghpur in Katihar district, he said.

All these panchayats are close to Mohammedpur. Modi said he was in touch with the Union health ministry and the state government had decided to procure Temflu -- a preventive medicine for bird flu.

One hundred and fifty personal protection equipment were also being sent to Purnia Commissionary and the Centre had been requested to send 500 more, he added.

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2725364,prtpage-1.cms

 

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Re: Bihar government orders culling in Katihar

Bird flu spreads to half of Bengal, Bihar begins culling



CNN-IBN

FEAR OF FLU: Bihar has ordered culling in Katihar, adjacent to the affected Malda district.


Kolkata: Bird flu has come knocking at Kolkata's doorstep as the avian flu has spread to Hoogly and Cooch Behar districts, taking the number of affected districts in the state to nine. Hoogly is just an hour away from the West Bengal capital city.

Meanwhile, the Bihar Government has ordered culling of chicken in six panchayat areas of Katihar district adjacent to bird flu-affected Malda district of West Bengal

The Bihar government has already banned import of poultry from the neighbouring state. "We have put a blanket ban on import of birds from West Bengal in the wake of reports of the dreaded H5N1 virus spreading there," Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who is also holding the portfolio of Animal and Fishery Resources, said.

In West Bengal, the authorities have now set a target of culling three lakh chicken daily. Over the last couple of days avian flu has been confirmed in North and South 24 Parganas, Nadia, West Midnapur, Birbhum, Malda and Dinajpur. Around 20 million people live in these infected areas.

"Samples of chicken sent from Cooch Behar and Hooghly districts on Tuesday tested positive at the Highrisk Security Disease Laboratory (HSDL) in Bhopal," West Bengal Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rahaman said. "We have been informed by the Centre. Steps will be taken accordingly," he said.

The situation is increasingly becoming worrisome in West Bengal, with a large backyard poultry population that mingles freely with ducks and wild birds.

"Steps are being taken to officially notify both Cooch Behar and Hooghly districts bird flu affected, for the next course of action including culling," Rahaman said. The samples which tested positive were from Dinhata in Cooch Behar district and Balagarh in Hooghly district, he said.

There was, however, no case of humans beings being affected, the minister said. The target of culling which was set at 20 lakh was
also likely to increase, he said.

Culling has begun in Hooghly's Balagarh and culling teams have been increased from 60 to 400. The daily target now stands at three lakh, he said. About 150 technical teams from eight states, including Haryana, Assam, Maharashtra, Orissa and Jharkhand would soon join to monitor the culling.

West Bengal's border with neighbouring states has already been sealed, the minister said.

http://www.ibnlive.com/printpage.php?id=57222&section_id=3

 

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Re: Bihar government orders culling in Katihar

Bihar government orders culling in Katihar

Patna, Jan 23 :Bihar Wednesday ordered the culling of hundreds of chicken in Katihar district that borders West Bengal's bird-flu hit Malda district, as a preventive measure.

"The government has issued orders to start culling of chickens in six panchayats under Azamgarh block in Katihar. Hundreds of chickens will be culled to prevent the spread of bird flu," Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi told IANS.

Modi said the government received reports about a suspected case of bird flu at Mohammedpur in Malda, barely five km from Azamgarh. Katihar district administration has been directed to coordinate with their counterparts in Malda and cull poultry in six panchayats - Khasota, Mimaua, Deogaon, Sitalpati, Garghatu and Anarsinghpur, he added.

Official sources said that rapid response teams have fanned out across the state to check the spread of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus from neighbouring West Bengal districts.

A total of nine of West Bengal's 19 districts are in the grip of bird flu, whose origin remains a mystery and which has caused a nationwide scare.

With over 430,000 birds culled so far and the total expected to cross 2.1 million in West Bengal, officials said culling operations in Malda district would begin only Friday.

Bihar's Kishanganj and Katihar districts share a border with West Bengal's Birbhum and South Dinajpur, which have been affected by bird flu.

Official sources said all the borders have been sealed to check the entry of poultry items into the state. Bihar on Tuesday banned import of poultry from West Bengal.

Kishanganj District Magistrate Sridhar Cherevellu said the administration has been alerted and precautionary measures were being taken.

"Measures have been initiated for decontamination of both the government and private poultry farms," said Anil Kumar, assistant manager of the Bhagalpur regional poultry farm.

http://bihartimes.com/news08/Jan/23jan1.html

 

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Re: Bihar government orders culling in Katihar

Bihar districts

http://gov.bih.nic.in/Profile/Districts.htm

 

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Re: Bihar government orders culling in Katihar

http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/bihar/districts/katihar.htm

 

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Re: Bihar government orders culling in Katihar

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>After WB, bird flu spreads to Bihar

</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Agencies
Kolkata, Jan 23: After affecting nine districts of West Bengal, the deadly bird flu on Wednesday reportedly spread to Katihar district of adjacent Bihar.
The Bihar government on Wednesday ordered culling of chicken in six panchayat areas in Katihar district, adjacent to affected Malda district of West Bengal, as a preventive measure, a day after imposing a blanket ban on entry of poultry from the neighbouring state.
There is, however, no report of any instance of bird flu in Katihar and the culling in the six panchayat areas is a preventive measure, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi told reporters.
"We have received reports about a suspected case of bird flu at Mohammedpur in Malda district, hardly 5 km from Katihar. We are in constant touch with the West Bengal government about it," Deputy Chief Minister S Modi, who is also in charge of animal and fishery resources department, told reporters.
Katihar district authorities have been directed to coordinate with their counterpart in Malda and carry out culling of chicken in six panchayats identified as Khasota, Mimaua, Deogaon, Sitalpati, Garghatu and Anarsinghpur in Katihar district, he said.
All these Panchayats are close to Mohammedpur.
Modi said he was in touch with the union Health Ministry and the state government had decided to procure Temflu, a preventive medicine for bird flu.
One hundred and fifty personal protection equipment were also being sent to Purnia Commissionary and the Centre had been requested to send 500 more, he added.
Earlier, contrary to the claims of the West Bengal govt that bird flu has been contained, the deadly virus on Wednesday was detected in samples of dead chicken in Cooch Behar district.
Samples of chicken sent from Cooch Behar and Hooghly districts to the Highrisk Security Disease Laboratory (HSDL) in Bhopal yesterday tested positive," Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rahaman said.
There was, however, no case of humans beings being affected, the minister said.
The target of culling which was set at 20 lakh was also likely to increase, he said.
Earlier, the bird flu outbreak was detected in Birbhum, South Dinajpur, Burdwan, Murshidabad, Nadia and Bankura. Bird deaths continued to be reported from North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and West Midnapore districts
The government is taking all possible methods to stop the spread of the dreaded bird flu virus, which has resulted in culling of nearly two and a half lakh birds in West Bengal where the case was first reported.
States adjacent to West Bengal are on high alert. Though no cases of bird flu have been reported in Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura, nonetheless the government is unwilling to take any chances yet.
The Centre has also despatched a team of experts to Meghalaya who will be reaching tomorrow to oversee precautionary measures.
The government has also constituted 150 technical teams from eight states, including Haryana, Assam, Maharashtra, Orissa and Jharkhand would soon join to monitor the culling, while 2170 "personnel protective equipment" has been kept ready to contain the disease.
The West Bengal government has already banned the entry of chickens from Bangladesh and has been inspecting those that have already entered. The neighbouring countries like Nepal, which has already banned poultry imports from India, said its border posts were on high alert. Bangladesh was battling its own serious outbreak -- with experts warning the situation was far worse than the government was letting on.
Earlier, the villagers resisted the culling process citing reasons like money, affection for the pets but now with bird flu confirmed in many districts and mortality reported from many more, even the most reluctant villager are now extending their support.
Meanwhile, the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss had said last week that no case of human bird flu was reported from the country, and blamed the West Bengal Government's "delayed" action for the spread of the disease in the State. People typically catch bird flu by coming into direct contact with infected poultry, but experts fear a pandemic if the H5N1 mutates into a form easily transmissible between humans. Migratory birds have been largely blamed for the global spread of the disease, which has killed more than 200 people worldwide since 2003.
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http://www.centralchronicle.com/20080124/2401141.htm

 

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Re: Bihar government orders culling in Katihar

Bihar orders culling of chickens


Special Correspondent







PATNA: The Bihar government on Wednesday ordered culling of chickens in Katihar district, neighbouring West Bengal, and sent an SOS to the Centre for assistance.
Apart from prohibiting import of chickens from West Bengal and imposing a check at its borders, the State government directed the Katihar district administration to cull chickens in six panchayats bordering Malda district of West Bengal to check the spread of bird flu.
The decision to take preventive measures in Khasota, Mimaua, Deogaon, Sitalpati, Garghatu and Anarsinghpur panchayats was taken after the State government learnt of a suspected case of bird flu in Mohammadpur panchayat of Malda district in West Bengal.
The government urged the Centre to send 500 personal protection equipment to go with the 150 the State government has provided to Katihar.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/24/stories/2008012457060100.htm