India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Feb 10th + August 3rd 2008

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Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Source: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=6&theme=&usrsess=1&id=200828
Staff crunch hits culling

Pranesh Sarkar
KOLKATA, April 23: The state animal resources department is struggling to arrange the required manpower to carry out fresh culling and mop-up operations in three Bird Flu-affected districts.
State ARD officials said fresh culling of chickens was ordered in Birbhum, Burdwan and Murshidabad after Central ARD officials found that many chickens were roaming in the notified areas even after the state announced completion of culling and disinfection operations in these areas. But the fresh process was ordered at a time when the authorities are struggling to set up the required number of rapid response teams as the majority of state government staff have been engaged in duties related to panchayat polls.
?The department has realised the urgency of carrying out the process seriously this time. Though the concerned district magistrates have repeatedly expressed their helplessness owing to unavailability of manpower, the top brass of the department has made it clear that no lackadaisical attitude would be entertained this time,? said a senior official of the department.
Officials also said according to the report submitted by the Central ARD teams deployed in these three districts, nearly 6,000 chickens have to be culled after the fresh notice was issued. ?The Central teams have pointed out the houses and areas where chickens were left out during culling operation. But as chickens are located in different areas and in a scattered way, it would take some time. But to stop the spread of the virus, these chickens have to be culled as early as possible and unavailability of staff is certainly creating trouble,? an official said.
When contacted, Mr Anisur Rahman, state ARD minister, said, ?As only a handful of chickens would be culled this time, this won't be a problem. I have asked the concerned authorities to complete the process as early as possible.?
Officials also expressed concern over the Central report where it has been observed that trading of chickens and poultry activities could not be banned properly.

 

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Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

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Source: http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14655699

Fresh bird flu outbreak in Tripura, culling begins
Thursday, 24 April , 2008, 15:26

Agartala: Bird flu was reported in a new area in the virus-hit West Tripura district as culling operations began today to kill 60,000 birds in eight gram panchayat areas.


Bird flu virus was detected in blood samples of dead birds from Nadilag village of Bishalgarh subdivision at the High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory in Bhopal on Wednesday, official sources said.

Culling would begin at Nadilag after it was notified by the Central government, the sources said.

Meanwhile, 60,000 birds would be culled from on Thursday in eight gram panchayat areas, which fall within the 5-km radius of Mohanpur in Sadar subdivision of West Tripura district, from where samples had tested positive on April 21, director of State animal resource department said.

Culling would continue in the area for the next five days, he said.

A red alert has been sounded and import of poultry and eggs from outside the state, including neighbouring Bangladesh has been banned.

Reports said a total of 43 districts in Bangladesh were affected by bird flu.

Personnel of BSF and special surveillance teams were keeping vigil in the border areas.

Five checkposts were set up at Sidhai, Mantola, Khowa Chowmuhuni, Tarapur and Bijaynagar School Chowmuhuni to ban movement of birds to and from the affected panchayats and Bangladesh, the sources said.

 

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Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

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Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080426/jsp/northeast/story_9190781.jsp

Tripura bird flu
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Agartala, April 25: Confirmation of the presence of the H5N1 bird flu virus in Nadilag, Fakiramura and Krishnapur villages under Chandranagar gaon panchayat in Bishalgarh subdivision has triggered panic among wildlife officials in Sipahijala animal sanctuary.

The wildlife warden of the sanctuary, Partha Das, said precautionary measures were taken to insulate the animals.

?We have banned the supply of bird meat as food for the animals,? he said.

A massive cleaning operation has been launched all over the sanctuary.

 

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Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

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Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Bird_flu_spreads_in_Tripura/articleshow/2984104.cms

Bird flu spreads in Tripura
26 Apr 2008, 0405 hrs IST,Kounteya Sinha ,TNN


NEW DELHI: Bird flu has now started to spread fast and wide in Tripura.

Blood and faecal samples of dead birds picked up from Nadilagh village in Bishalgarh sub-division of West Tripura have now tested positive for bird flu. This is third area in the state in less than two weeks to have come under the grip of the deadly disease.

Final test reports sent to the state government by Bhopal's High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) on Thursday night confirmed the presence of the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus in Nadilagh village, which is just 25 km from Agartala.

Speaking to TOI from Bishalgarh, state animal resources department director A Roy Barman said: "The earlier outbreak sites ? Mohanpur and Dhalai ? were within half to four km from the Bangladesh border. So we were certain that the virus may have come into Tripura through illegal trade of poultry between villagers on both sides of the border.

However, the latest outbreak in Nadilagh has come as a surprise. It is 50 km away from the Bangladesh border."

Barman now suspects that migratory birds that are now nesting in the water bodies of Shipaijala forest area could be carriers of the virus. "The area around Nadilagh is frequently visited by migratory birds. They too could be carrying the virus. We are baffled. We don't know whether the virus is travelling or whether these are simultaneous outbreaks," he added.

 

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Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...t_paltry_compensation/articleshow/2984975.cms

Villagers in bird-flu hit Tripura lament paltry compensation
26 Apr, 2008, 1341 hrs IST, AGENCIES

KALAKACCHYA (TRIPURA): Villagers in bird-flu hit Tripura have complained about the lack of adequate compensation from the government, even as culling of poultry continues to stave off avian influenza.

"We are not satisfied with the money offered by the government. In the market, the birds costs around 120 to 130 rupees each, but we are being paid a mere 40 rupees. Apart from that, if the culling is carried out in this process, all the farms will be destroyed," claimed Sephal Saha, a villager.

Veterinary officials in Kalakacchya village said they are working to check the spread of the disease.
"We are continuing culling in ten areas. We have two mobile vans involved," said Ashok Majumder, a veterinary doctor.

Over 25,000 chicks and ducks have already been slaughtered in Tripura this month after it was hit by the H5N1 strain.

A red alert has been sounded to prohibit the import of poultry from outside the State, including neighbouring Bangladesh, which shares an 856 kilometre long porous border with Tripura.

Checkpoints have been put in place to stop the transportation of chickens and other poultry products outside the bird-flu zone.

Border guards along the India-Bangladesh border have been put on high alert.

This is the second time that the deadly bird flu virus has been detected in the state, a little more than a week after thousands of chickens were culled.

Laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus in dead chickens in Tripura.
Indian officials have expressed fears that the virus might be spreading from Bangladesh.

Tripura is the second state after West Bengal in the country's east to report an outbreak of avian influenza this year.

Earlier this month, over 40,000 birds were culled in the state following an outbreak of the disease.

India, which reported its first outbreak of avian flu in 2006, has not reported any human infections yet.

The H5N1 strain of the virus has killed more than 230 people worldwide since late 2003. Health experts fear the strain could mutate into a form easily transmitted from person to person, leading to a pandemic.

 

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Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...t_paltry_compensation/articleshow/2984975.cms

Villagers in bird-flu hit Tripura lament paltry compensation
26 Apr, 2008, 1341 hrs IST, AGENCIES

KALAKACCHYA (TRIPURA): Villagers in bird-flu hit Tripura have complained about the lack of adequate compensation from the government, even as culling of poultry continues to stave off avian influenza.

"We are not satisfied with the money offered by the government. In the market, the birds costs around 120 to 130 rupees each, but we are being paid a mere 40 rupees. Apart from that, if the culling is carried out in this process, all the farms will be destroyed," claimed Sephal Saha, a villager.

Veterinary officials in Kalakacchya village said they are working to check the spread of the disease.
"We are continuing culling in ten areas. We have two mobile vans involved," said Ashok Majumder, a veterinary doctor.

Over 25,000 chicks and ducks have already been slaughtered in Tripura this month after it was hit by the H5N1 strain.

A red alert has been sounded to prohibit the import of poultry from outside the State, including neighbouring Bangladesh, which shares an 856 kilometre long porous border with Tripura.

Checkpoints have been put in place to stop the transportation of chickens and other poultry products outside the bird-flu zone.

Border guards along the India-Bangladesh border have been put on high alert.

This is the second time that the deadly bird flu virus has been detected in the state, a little more than a week after thousands of chickens were culled.

Laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus in dead chickens in Tripura.
Indian officials have expressed fears that the virus might be spreading from Bangladesh.

Tripura is the second state after West Bengal in the country's east to report an outbreak of avian influenza this year.

Earlier this month, over 40,000 birds were culled in the state following an outbreak of the disease.

India, which reported its first outbreak of avian flu in 2006, has not reported any human infections yet.

The H5N1 strain of the virus has killed more than 230 people worldwide since late 2003. Health experts fear the strain could mutate into a form easily transmitted from person to person, leading to a pandemic.

 

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Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Source: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080048037&ch=4/27/2008 8:28:00 AM

Bird flu spreads to Indo-Bangladesh border


Kishalay Bhattacharya
Sunday, April 27, 2008 (Guwahati)
Bird flu has hit Tripura and has spread to Kamalpur in Dhalai district while Mohanpur and Bishalgarh near Agartala are already infected.

All three places are right on the Bangladesh border where there have several outbreaks of the disease.

''Unless the border is sealed, it is not possible to control the spread of the virus and it is hard to believe that there is no movement across the border. The border is too porous,'' said Mrinmoy Burman, assistant director of Animal Resource Development Department.

''The areas affected are all bordering Bangladesh. If Bangladesh doesn't take this up immediately, it will affect us very badly. There is fear psychosis now,'' said D C Das, SDM Sadar, Agartala.

Unless vigilance is improved on the border, the spread of the flu may soon become unstoppable.

 

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Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

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Source: http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=439374&sid=REG

Culling begins in Nadilag, on in another area of Tripura
Agartala, April 27: Culling began today in bird-flu hit Nadilag and its surrounding areas of West Tripura district as the state government said neighbouring Bangladesh could be the possible source of infection.

As the H5N1 virus was confirmed in blood samples of dead birds from Nadilag village by the high security animal diseases laboratory in Bhopal, the authorities started the operation, setting a target of culling 20,000 chicken in eight gram panchayat areas surrounding Nadilag in four days.

In Mohanpur area of Sadar sub-division in the same district, culling continued for the fourth day today. Another day is left to complete the target of culling 60,000 birds there, official sources said.

Meanwhile, samples were collected from seven other areas of Ranirbazar in the Sadar sub-division and sent to the Bhopal laboratory yesterday following the death of about 1,000 birds at a farm there during the past one week, the sources said.

On April 6, samples from Malaya grampanchayat area in Dhalai district tested positive and 42,000 birds were culled.

Import of poultry from outside the state, including Bangladesh with which the state shares an over 850-km-long border, has been banned. Of the 64 districts in Bangladesh, 47 are reported to be affected by the disease.

"All the bird-flu hit areas are near the border and as the neighbouring country is badly hit by the avian influenza there is every reason to believe that the infection came from Bangladesh," the Animal Resource Department said.

Bureau Report

 

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Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

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Source: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/health/bird-flu-spreading-in-tripura_10042928.html

Bird flu spreading in Tripura
April 28th, 2008 - 8:54 pm ICT by admin

Agartala, April 28 (IANS) Bird flu is spreading to fresh areas in Tripura even as culling operations are continuing in the state, officials said Monday. More than 45,000 poultry have been culled in the Mohanpur and Bisalgarh areas since the operation began last week.

?We are getting reports of birds? death in a large number of places from across the state and accordingly samples of blood and dead birds are being sent to the High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal for testing,? said Ashish Roy Burman, director of the Animal Resource Development (ARD) department.

He said over 3,000 birds had died in Ranir Bazar areas of west Tripura in the past few days.

The union government?s animal resource development department has sent its assistant commissioner Dipankar Biswas to supervise the culling operations.

To prevent spread of the contiguous disease, movement of vehicles to and from the affected villages has been restricted.

Over 41,000 poultry birds were slaughtered and thousands of poultry products destroyed following the first outbreak of bird flu earlier this month in the border villages of Kamalpur under Dhalai district, 150 km north of here.

 

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Source: http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=38200

AVIAN INFLUENZA IN TRIPURA

SITUATIONAL REPORT AS ON 28-4-2008 ? NO HUMANS AFFECTED
16:5 IST
Tripura

District West Tripura

Village Nadilak, Block Bishalgarh [outbreak notified on 24.4.2008]

Central RRT is assisting the State authorities. Containment operations are on. House to house surveillance by health workers is continuing. A population of 13763 has been covered. 133 cases of fever/URI have been detected in the community. None of them had exposure to infected poultry.

Village Hatearra; Block: Mohanpur [outbreak notified on 21.4.2008]

Containment operations are on. Central RRT is assisting the State authorities. Active house-to-house surveillance is continuing. Isolation ward opened at AGMC for treatment of suspected cases.

There is adequate stock of Tami flu.

There is no suspect case of human avian influenza.

The situation is being monitored.

Facts may please be verified before putting out news reports in the media. Daily status reports are being web hoisted and could be accessed at www.mohfw.nic.in. KR/SK/Avian Influenza ? 344

 

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Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080430/jsp/northeast/story_9200239.jsp

Wednesday , April 30 , 2008
Culling cloud on bird sanctuary
- Sipahijala shuts zoo after protests
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Agartala, April 29: The restive poultry farmers of Bishalgarh subdivision have demanded culling of birds inside Sipahijala wildlife sanctuary which prompted the authorities to shut the zoo inside the preserve to visitors.

They also demanded better compensation for the birds slaughtered in their farms. ?They argued that if their apparently healthy and unaffected birds were to be culled merely on the basis of suspicion, the birds within the sanctuary should also be subjected to culling,? said Ashudeb Das, sub-divisional officer, Bishalgarh.

He added that the culling teams had a tough time convincing the people.

Fullscale culling operations continued for the third successive day in five gaon panchayats of Bishalgarh subdivision.

However, the director of the zoo at the sanctuary, Ajit Bhowmik, ruled out any culling within the sanctuary, describing it as ?unnecessary?.

?We have 21 species of captive birds, some of which are exceedingly valuable and are very well looked after with medicine and food. It is well known that poultry chickens are the most vulnerable to the bird flu virus, besides ducks and pigeons, but we do not have them within our sanctuary,? said Bhowmik.

He said after being informed of the outbreak of bird flu and upcoming culling operations in the sub-division, he had spoken to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) in New Delhi and was given detailed instructions to follow as preventive measures against the avian flu.

Culling teams operations have encountered minor protests from owners of the birds.

?They protested against the amount of compensation ?Rs 40 for full-grown poultry chickens, Rs 50 for desi varieties and Rs 70 for ducks ? but we could not go beyond the official rates and convinced them,? said Asim Roy Barman, director of the animal resource development department.

Roy Barman said three days of culling in eight gaon panchayat areas of Mohanpur and Hezamara blocks till Sunday had led to the slaughter of 20,795 affected birds.

An amount of Rs 7,46,207 has been paid as compensation to owners of culled chickens, ducks and pigeons.

Roy Barman added that his department was worried over the possible escalation of bird flu in different parts of the state and 107 samples from all over the state have been sent to Bhopal.
Top

 

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Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

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Source: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200804301921.htm

TN to set up sterile poultry zone

Chennai (PTI): Badly affected by the ban on poultry imports from India due to bird flu,Tamil Nadu Government plans to set up a sterile poultry zone, free from the avian virus to resume exports of poultry products from the state.

Though no cases of avian virus have been reported, Tamil Nadu's poultry exports were badly hit by the ban after the outbreak of the virus in West Bengal.

Replying to a debate on the demands for grants pertaining to her ministry, State Animal Husbandry minister P Geethajeevan said the zone would fulfill the regulations of World Trade Organisation and International Organisation for protecting animals from diseases.

She said the state was maintaining a strict vigil to see that bird flu did not occur in the state.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

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Source: http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=148657

AVIAN INFLUENZA IN TRIPURA

SITUATIONAL REPORT AS ON 30-4-2008 ? NO HUMANS AFFECTED
14:2 IST
Tripura

District West Tripura

Village Nadilak, Block Bishalgarh [outbreak notified on 24.4.2008]

Central RRT is assisting the State authorities. Containment operations are on. House to house surveillance by health workers is continuing. A population of 19482 has been covered in 0-3 Km area. 109 cases of fever/URI have been detected in the community. None of them had exposure history to infected poultry.

153 Animal Health workers are under medical supervision and chemoprophylaxis.

Village Hatearra; Block: Mohanpur [outbreak notified on 21.4.2008]

Containment operations are on. Central RRT is assisting the State authorities. Active house-to-house surveillance is continuing. A population of 24011 has been covered in 0-3 Km area. 73 cases of fever/ URI have been detected in the community and none of them had exposure history to infected poultry.

Three cases of fever/URI have reported in the identified hospital and none of them had exposure history.

155 Animal Health workers are under medical supervision and chemoprophylaxis.

There is adequate stock of Tamiflu.

There is no suspect case of human avian influenza.

The situation is being monitored.

Facts may please be verified before putting out news reports in the media. Daily status reports are being web hoisted and could be accessed at www.mohfw.nic.in.

RJ/SK/Avian Influenza ? 345

 

[Shiloh]

Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

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Source: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/bengal-yet-to-overcome-bird-flu-menace_10044369.html

Bengal yet to overcome bird flu menace
May 2nd, 2008 - 5:20 pm ICT by admin -

Kolkata, May 2 (ANI): The CPI (M)-ruled West Bengal has not yet fully recovered from the danger posed by bird flu which has seriously affected rural economy on the eve of the panchayat polls.
The state has already been rapped by the Centre as well as UN-affiliated Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO) for the administrations failure to track the origin of the disease and take necessary precautionary and preventive measures to contain its spread. Union health minister Ambumani Ramdoss also apprehends that the disease may ultimately affect human lives in Bengal first if the culling work is not speeded up.
The Bengal governments somewhat lackadaisical attitude vis-a-vis the bird flu menace is apparent from its decision to form a fact-finding committee almost three months after the outbreak of the disease. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting attended by animal husbandry minister Anisur Rahman and health minister Surya Kanta Mishra yesterday.
The committee will not only oversee the progress of culling operations but also closely monitor the post-culling situation in the affected areas and look into the genetic sequence of the disease. The state government feels bid flu, affecting different Bengal districts, has its origin in the neighbouring Bangladesh, but the Centre is yet to confirm its apprehension.
The state government has identified fifteen out of seventeen districts as bird-flu affected. According to an estimate, ten per cent of the total areas in Bengal has been hit by the disease and about 42 lakh chickens have been destroyed in culling operations.
However, a fresh directive from the union animal husbandry ministry to the state government to undertake culling work in Birbhum, Murshidabad and Burdwan districts has caught the ruling Marxists on the wrong foot with hardly a month left for the rural polls.
While the Centre feels the state administration should immediately resume culling operations in the affected areas of the three districts, the CPI(M) is wary of the possible impact of such administrative action on its electoral fortune.
According to informed sources, many panchayat members had opposed the culling operations as they posed a veritable threat to rural economy. A large section of the rural population in West Bengal is entirely dependent on poultry farming to earn their livelihood. Most of them felt the monetary compensation provided by the state government for destroying their means of livelihood was not adequate.
The minority community, in particular, earn a living in many villages by selling chickens and eggs. Naturally a fresh drive to destroy their chickens to prevent bird flu will evoke their anger on the eve of the panchayat elections.
Some of the Left Front partners like the Forward Bloc and the RSP have also taken serious exception to the CPI(M)s failure to make a reference to the bird flu menace in the election manifesto. The Front partners feel the manifesto should have reassured the affected people about their economic rehabilitation after the rural polls since they have been hard hit by the culling operations.
Opposition parties have also accused the state government of resorting to political discrimination while distributing the compensation money among the affected villagers. The parties intend to make culling operations a major issue in their campaign for the panchayat polls. (ANI)

 

[Giuseppe]

Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

[OIE, FOLLOW-UP REPORT NO. 4 - IOH]

[AVIAN INFLUENZA, POULTRY, INDIA, OIE, UPDATES] Highly pathogenic avian influenza, India

Information received on 01/05/2008 from Dr Pradeep Kumar, 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. 4
Start date 04/01/2008
Date of first confirmation of the event 15/01/2008
Report date 01/05/2008
Date submitted to OIE 01/05/2008
Reason for notification Reoccurrence of a listed disease
Date of previous occurrence 02/08/2007
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 (15/01/2008)
Follow-up report No. 1 (09/02/2008)
Follow-up report No. 2 (28/03/2008)
Follow-up report No. 3 (08/04/2008)
Follow-up report No. 4 (01/05/2008)

? New outbreaks
* Outbreak 1 - Bishalgarh, Nadilak, West Tripura, TRIPURA
Date of start of the outbreak 15/04/2008
Outbreak status Continuing (or date resolved not provided)
Epidemiological unit Village
Affected animals: Species - Susceptible - Cases - Deaths - Destroyed - Slaughtered
* Birds - 35000 - 10 - 9 - 9025
Affected population Backyard poultry in one village.

* Outbreak 2 - Mohanpur, Hatcarra, West Tripura, TRIPURA
Date of start of the outbreak 14/04/2008
Outbreak status Continuing (or date resolved not provided)
Epidemiological unit Village
Affected animals: Species - Susceptible - Cases - Deaths - Destroyed - Slaughtered
* Birds - 40000 - 40 - 40 - 30087
Affected population Backyard poultry in one village.

? Summary of outbreaks
Total outbreaks: 2
Total animals affected: Species - Susceptible - Cases - Deaths - Destroyed - Slaughtered
* Birds - 75000 - 50 - 49 - 39112 **
Outbreak statistics: Species - Apparent morbidity rate - Apparent mortality rate - Apparent case fatality rate - Proportion susceptible animals lost*
* Birds - 0.07% - 0.07% - 98.00% **
* Removed from the susceptible population through death, destruction and/or slaughter
** Total contains unknown quantity

? 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 5-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 (National laboratory)
Tests and results: Species - Test - Test date - Result
* Birds - real-time PCR - 19/04/2008 - Positive
* Birds - real-time PCR - 23/04/2008 - Positive
-
http://www.oie.int/wahid-prod/public.php?page=single_report&pop=1&reportid=6995
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Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080505/jsp/northeast/story_9224741.jsp

Monday , May 5 , 2008 |
After bird flu, cry for rehab
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Agartala, May 4: Long after the culling operations have come to an end, the Tripura government is facing a demand for the rehabilitation of those people who earned their livelihood by selling poultry, desi chickens, ducks and pigeons.

The All Tripura Poultry Merchants? Association headed by Ajoy Chakraborty has raised this demand at a convention.

Culling operations had been undertaken after bird flu was confirmed in eight gaon panchayats in Kamalpur sub-division, including the area under the nagar panchayat on April 8.

After a weeklong culling and four days of mopping-up operations, altogether 40,238 affected birds had been slaughtered.

This was followed by largescale culling in eight more gaon panchayats under Mohanpur and Hezamara blocks from April 16 and finally 55,000 flu-hit birds, including several stray ones, were culled .

But largescale culling operations in seven gaon panchayats bordering Bangladesh in Bishalgarh sub-division of West Tripura set the alarm bells ringing.

Faced with protests from villagers owning chickens and other birds, the culling teams under the animal resource development department slaughtered more than 60,000 birds.

?According to primary estimates, we have given Rs 60 lakh as compensation though the demand was for more,? said Asim Roy Barman, director of the department.

The government is on the horns of dilemma over the blow dealt by the outbreak of bird flu to poultry farming in the state.

There are 22,000 self-help groups in the state and out of this over 3,000 depend on poultry farming for sustenance. ?The compensation given by the government is a pittance, much more should have been given in monetary terms but the main loss is the fear psychosis among people who feel that consuming chicken is harmful to health,? said Ajay Chakraborty.

He said over 60,000 families depend on chicken rearing for survival and all of them have been adversely affected. ?Unless the government comes up with a comprehensive rehabilitation plan more than 3,00,000 people will languish in poverty and semi-starvation,? Chakraborty said.

Chakraborty indicated that if the government did not announce a rehabilitation plan, his association would launch an agitation.

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Bird flu resurfaces in Bengal

KOLKATA: Bird flu has resurfaced in Darjeeling district in eastern India, West Bengal's Animal Resources Development (ARD) Minister Anisur Rehaman confirmed on Friday.

The H5NI strain of the virus has been detected in Kurseong town in Darjeeling by the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal.

The minister that no cases had been detected after April 4 but the government had been regularly monitoring the districts.

"Last week, around 100 chickens died in Kurseong. We sent samples to the Bhopal laboratory. The officials confirmed Friday morning that the samples were positive," Rehaman said.

"We have already sent a team of doctors. The culling team will soon be sent. All chickens within a five kilometre radius will be culled," he added.

Bird flu had broken out in West Bengal in January this year. Avian flu had hit 13 of 19 districts in the state leading to around four million poultry birds being culled.

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1163388

 

[Shiloh]

Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Source: http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-33494920080509?sp=true

Bird flu resurfaces in West Bengal
Fri May 9, 2008 3:43pm IST

KOLKATA (Reuters) - Veterinary workers were getting ready to cull thousands of backyard poultry to contain an outbreak of bird flu in West Bengal which has struggled to control the virus since January.

The communist-ruled state briefly contained the outbreak by culling more than four million birds in 14 of its 19 districts, but the virus has intermittently resurfaced.

Poultry sales in the state had fallen by about 70 percent in the January-March period, but traders said they were still struggling to overcome losses.

On Friday, officials said the virus has spread to the tea-growing Darjeeling district, the 15th to be hit by bird flu this year.

"Tests in a central laboratory confirmed the recent poultry deaths from the H5N1 strain of the virus in Darjeeling district," Rajesh Pande, a senior government official told Reuters.

Around 300 birds mysteriously died last week in Sukna area in the foothills of the Himalayas near the bustling town of Siliguri, he said.

"The deaths are all in backyard poultry and not in any farm," Pande added.

After a massive culling operation, authorities in West Bengal said in February that bird flu was under control.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has described the situation in West Bengal as India's worst bird flu outbreak in poultry. India's first outbreak of H5N1 was reported in 2006.

Officials in West Bengal said they were looking for people with flu-like symptoms.

India has so far not reported any human infections, but experts fear the H5N1 strain could mutate into a form easily transmitted from person to person, leading to a pandemic.

Since the virus resurfaced in Asia in late 2003, at least 241 people have died from bird flu in a dozen countries, the WHO says.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080510/jsp/siliguri/story_9249961.jsp

Bird flu back, this time near Siliguri

Siliguri, May 9: The Darjeeling district administration today confirmed an outbreak of bird flu in a village 22km north of Siliguri, almost two months after the H5N1 virus was detected in neighbouring Jalpaiguri.

Poinikumari in Kurseong subdivision is 60km from Sonpukur and Saheber Kamath villages of Jalpaiguri, which was affected.

In Poinikumari, 283 chicken have died since April 27. ?Once we came to know about the deaths, medical teams from the animal resource development (ARD) department were dispatched. Samples were first sent to the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Calcutta and then to High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal. The Bhopal laboratory has confirmed that the samples have tested positive for bird flu,? said Rajesh Pandey, the district magistrate of Darjeeling.

The report from Bhopal arrived this afternoon and last deaths were reported on May 4. This is the first time that the bird flu has been reported in Darjeeling district ever since the state was plagued by the communicable disease about six months ago. Besides Jalpaiguri, the virus had been detected in three other north Bengal districts? South Dinajpur, Cooch Behar and Malda.

?We have identified three panchayats under Siliguri sub-division and one in Kurseong where culling operations will begin tomorrow,? Pandey said.

Ten villages each under Sukna and Patharghata panchayats, five under Atharokhai panchayat and nine in Lower and Upper Bagdogra panchayat will be covered for culling in the next three days.

?We have formed 25 teams, which will cull 18,000 poultry birds,? said Pandey. He had convened a meeting at the circuit house today, which was attended by Mani Thapa, the sabhapati of Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad and officials of ARD and the district administration.

?No case of humans contracting the disease has been detected so far. I will also hold a meeting with the poultry traders. Selling of chicken and eggs within a 10km radius of the affected area will be banned till the culling is completed. The announcement will be made after a meeting with poultry traders tomorrow,? the district magistrate said after the meeting.

The district administration has also opened a control room at Pintail Village, 4km from here. The affected areas are within a 10km radius of Pintail.

Laxminarayan Banerjee, the deputy director of the Siliguri ARD department, said farmers would get Rs 40 for layers, Rs 30 for broilers and Rs 10 for chicks as compensation.
Top

 

[Shiloh]

Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Re: India - Bird Flu in POULTRY/ANIMALS Feb 10th +

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Bird_flu_resurfaces_in_West_Bengal/articleshow/3026529.cms

Bird flu resurfaces in West Bengal
10 May 2008, 0331 hrs IST,Kounteya Sinha,TNN

NEW DELHI: The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has resurfaced in West Bengal, with the latest area to be infected being a small town, Sukna, in the tea-growing hill district of Darjeeling.

Two samples sent from dead backyard poultry found in a village near the town have tested positive at Bhopal's High Security Animal Disease Laboratory. The virus had caused mortality of over 300 backyard poultry in a couple of days.

The latest outbreak takes the number of infected districts in the state to 15.

WHO called this outbreak in West Bengal "India's worst", especially because only four districts in the state remained safe from the virus that scientists say has the potential to cause the next big influenza pandemic.

Speaking to TOI, Pradeep Kumar, India's animal husbandry secretary, said: "Bangladesh is far off from this village and so are the other infected districts. We are puzzled about how the virus could have entered Darjeeling. One explanation suggests that the village is just a few kilometres from the Siliguri-Darjeeling highway. Poultry being carried on this highway could have harboured the virus and helped it to spread."

Principal secretary (animal husbandry) of West Bengal D K Chakraborty told TOI: "We just don't know how the virus is spreading, neither do international agencies like FAO and WHO. In the latest outbreak, we will cull about 20,000 birds. Restocking of birds took place in some districts even before sanitisation operations were completed. But we took great care in culling birds missed initially. We are sending 4,000 bird samples every month to HSADL."

Over four million birds have been culled since bird flu first entered West Bengal in January. However, no new outbreaks had been reported in the state after April 4. Since the virus resurfaced in Asia in late 2003, at least 241 people have died from bird flu in a dozen countries while birds in over 40 countries got infected.

Sources said that panchayat elections in West Bengal had severely affected the state's bird flu control and containment operations. State officials in districts like Birbhum, Burdwan, Malda and Murshidabad did not want to intimidate villagers by taking away their birds. This, they said, could cost their vote bank during the elections slated to be held on May 11, 14 and 18.

The latest outbreak comes after the UN issued its gravest warning to India since bird flu first broke out in the country in 2006, saying the virus may have got entrenched in the Indo-Gangetic plains of India and Bangladesh.

UN's influenza coordinator Dr David Nabarro said an entrenched virus would mean a longer time to stamp it out, higher risk of re-infections and a greater cost - both financial and human - for the infected country.

Health minister A Ramadoss had written a strongly worded letter to agriculture minister Sharad Pawar over West Bengal's slack containment efforts.