India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

West Bengal Says Bird Flu Outbreak Under Control (Lead)

Thursday 24th of January 2008
West Bengal authorities said Thursday the bird flu outbreak was under control, after days of panic, but added it would take four-five days to cull the over two million birds in the affected areas.

'The outbreak is under control. There is no report of the disease spreading to new areas,' Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy said after meeting Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and Animal Husbandry Minister Anisur Rahaman.

'The culling operation will be completed in Burdwan, Bankura and South Dinajpur districts by Thursday. We need to step up our operation in Murshidabad and Birbhum. It will take another four-five days to complete our task,' Roy added.

Roy allayed fears of the virus reaching Kolkata in the wake of reports of outbreak in Hooghly, only 19 km from the city. 'There is no threat to Kolkata. We are keeping a close watch on the situation.'

The chief minister directed Roy to ensure the disease did not envelop Kolkata. All entry points to the city have been sealed to prevent the entry of affected birds.

The deadly bird flu has led to the slaughter of over 450,000 birds in West Bengal so far even as it spread to Dinhata in Cooch Behar district in the north and Balagarh in Hooghly district, affecting nine of the total 19 districts.

'So far 34 blocks and four municipal areas have been hit by the disease,' minister Rahman said. 'From 640 culling teams Wednesday, the number was increased to 750 Thursday.'

Meanwhile, culling id set to commence in Malda, where the outbreak was confirmed three days back, district magistrate C.R. Das told IANS.

Reeling under the impact of the virus, the state's poultry industry said it had lost over Rs.1 billion ($25 million) in the past fortnight.

'Culling is slow and ham-handed. We are suffering because of that. The police are harassing us by intercepting our consignments and demanding bribes while the adverse campaign has affected the business,' West Bengal Poultry Welfare Association president Sheikh Nazrul Islam told IANS.

'In rural areas the government had given a woman member of each family 10 hens. Now when it is demanding them back for culling, the families are not forthcoming,' he said.

'We are impoverished. We have to start from the scratch now,' said Islam. Many states have banned the import of chicken from West Bengal.

In the villages, women folk who saw better days from rearing backyard poultry are devastated.

'How will we live now? All the 20 hens and ducks I had were slaughtered. We were heavily dependent on the earning from selling eggs,' said a woman from Mangolkot in Burdwan district, about 200 km from here.

The government has sanctioned Rs.50 million to battle the flu while the central government has disbursed Rs.35 million. The government has sought Rs.80.25 million more.

Farmers were being given tokens at culling sites and asked to contact their panchayat or village block offices for compensation. The payment is Rs.40 for a country chicken, Rs.30 for a broiler and Rs.10 for a chick.

Many villagers, however, are unhappy with the compensation. The nine districts now in the grip of the epidemic are Birbhum, South Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Nadia, Burdwan, Bankura, Malda, Hooghly and Cooch Behar.

The H5N1 virus causes a type of influenza in birds that is highly contagious. It does not usually infect people unless they come in close contact with infected birds or contaminated surfaces.

http://newspostindia.com/report-33091

HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

niman said:
West Bengal Says Bird Flu Outbreak Under Control (Lead)

'The outbreak is under control. There is no report of the disease spreading to new areas,' Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy said after meeting Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and Animal Husbandry Minister Anisur Rahaman.

http://newspostindia.com/report-33091

The are no reports of the disease spreading because there is no testing of dead birds.

HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

<TABLE id=table32 height=75 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=topStory2Head vAlign=top colSpan=3><TABLE id=table195 height=66 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=left bgColor=#ffffff background=images/topStoryBg.gif border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=topStory2Head>Flu threat looms large over Indian city
Kolkata: 53 minutes ago </TD><TD vAlign=top align=left width=80><SCRIPT src="ta_tooltip.js" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT></TD><TD width=10>

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</TD></TR><TR></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Authorities patrolled poultry markets in Kolkata to try to stop bird flu spreading to one of India's largest cities as fears grew the outbreak of the disease in eastern India was out of control.
Bird flu has spread to nine of West Bengal's 19 districts and there were reports of more bird deaths in another five districts in the state of 80 million people.
"The virus is most likely to spread to other areas within the infected zones and nearby districts, but we are now trying to stop it from hitting Kolkata," said Surjya Kanta Mishra, the state's health minister.
The H5N1 bird flu virus has been confirmed in two districts so far. Authorities have not confirmed H5N1 in other districts but say it is likely to be the same strain.
The World Health Organisation has said it was India's most serious outbreak since the strain was first detected in the country in 2006. On Thursday, a 30-year-old Indonesian man who had tested positive for bird flu died, and the virus has also resurfaced in Europe.
Indonesia has had the most fatalities from bird flu of any country, with the toll currently at 98 people dead.
Thailand said on Thursday the strain was confirmed in poultry in a northern province, while Bangladesh has been struggling to contain an outbreak that has affected more than two dozen districts. West Bengal borders Bangladesh.
Scientists fear the strain could mutate into a form easily transmitted from person to person, leading to a pandemic that could kill millions around the globe.
Authorities found avian influenza in dead bird samples from Hooghly district, a little more than an hour's drive from the crowded West Bengal capital, Kolkata.
More than five million people live in Kolkata, a city dotted with rows of large houses, crumbling colonial buildings, glittering glass offices and congested slums.
Hundreds of health officials searched markets in the city's narrow lanes, looking for sick birds smuggled in from infected districts.
Health officials were also checking birds at the biggest poultry farm in the state near Kolkata.
"A strict surveillance has been put in place and we are checking every single truck coming into the city," said Anisur Rahaman, the state's animal resources minister. "We are making every effort to save the city from the virus."-Reuters

http://www.tradearabia.com/news/newsdetails.asp?Sn=INTNEWS&artid=137743
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HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

Madhya Pradesh sounds alert for bird flu

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday sounded alert in the state in view of bird flu epidemic in West Bengal even though no case of the deadly virus has been reported here.

There are no cases of bird flu in Madhya Pradesh but instructions have been given to all the district chiefs and departmental officers to remain alert in view of the epidemic in West Bengal, an official statement said.

Constant vigil is being maintained on the dealers who import poultry from other states and the water reservoirs, which are visited by migratory birds, it said.

Last week, 8,799 samples were collected from across the state and sent to High Security Animal Diseases Research Laboratory here. But no traces of bird flu were found.

The officers have also been instructed to take prompt action in case they get report of large-scale and sudden death of birds anywhere in the state.

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1204702

HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

Bird flu knocks on Kolkata’s door
merinews network, 24 January 2008, Thursday <SCRIPT type=text/javascript> addthis_url = location.href; addthis_title = document.title; addthis_pub = 'greenpeace'; </SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/addthis_widget.php?v=12" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT>

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The deadly H5N1 virus has arrived at Kolkata’s doorstep with avian flu confirmed in Hooghly. The virus has affected 34 blocks and four municipal areas in nine districts, informed animal resource development minister (ARDM) Anisur Rahman.
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THE DEADLY H5N1 virus in Bengal is knocking at Kolkata’s door. Avian flu was confirmed almost on Kolkata’s border in Hooghly district and in Coochbehar in North Bengal late Wednesday (Jan 24). Roads to Kolkata are being monitored to prevent transportation of chicken and eggs from the affected areas.

The number of districts affected by avian flu now stands at nine. Samples sent from Gopalpur village in Balagarh, Hooghly, and Jaridharala village in Dinhata, Coochbehar to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal tested positive.

Till now the virus has affected 34 blocks and four municipal areas in nine districts, animal resource development minister (ARDM) Anisur Rahman told the city media.

There is growing resentment among poultry owners who are not getting the compensation. The minister said coupons were distributed among those who have lost poultry. The coupons could be changed for money from respective panchayat offices. The minister said he would appeal to New Delhi to increase the compensation amount. The current compensation is in keeping with norms set up by the Centre.

Rainfall in eight of the bird-flu affected districts of Bengal disrupted culling operations. Unseasonal rain since Wednesday has hampered culling operations in Bankura, Burdwan, Birbhum, Hooghly, Nadia, South Dinajpur, Murshibadbad and Coochbehar districts. The government is working on a revised culling target.

By Tuesday nightfall 414,000 birds had been culled in Birbhum, South Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Nadia, Burdwan, and Bankura. In South Dinajpur the culling target has been met with 80,000 birds slaughtered.

The number of culling teams has been raised from 476 to 640. To create awareness among rural folk all-party meetings are being organised in flu-affected districts.

Meanwhile, officials from the US and Japanese consulates met animal resource secretary Dilip Chakraborty on Wednesday for details of the bird flu. Poultry products from Bengal are exported to the two countries, the minister told reporters.

http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=129672

HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

Indian battles bird flu, UN sounds alarm over Bangladesh

by Sailendra Sil 17 minutes ago

Bodies of chickens were left to rot Thursday in India as the country battled its worst bird flu outbreak while a UN agency warned the virus also posed a health threat in neighbouring Bangladesh.
The disease has already spread to over half of India's West Bengal state whose government called the outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu a "crisis."
Drenching rain that turned rural dirt roads in West Bengal into muddy rivers forced a temporary halt to culling Thursday, dealing another setback to the fight against India's third and by far its worse bird flu outbreak.
Later when the rains stopped, the killing of birds resumed but villagers staged protests as culling teams refused to bury dead poultry.
"They're leaving the dead poultry on farms and along roads," said villager Munirul Sheikh in Ganganagar, 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Kolkata.
"Dozens of dead chickens are rotting in farms," he said.
"We're not instructed to pick up the dead chickens. Villagers can bury them," said Kashinath Majumdar, a government official heading a culling team.
West Bengal animal resources minister Anisur Rahaman, who has already expressed fears the disease would spread to humans, called the failure to bury the dead chickens "a communication gap."
"I will ask the culling teams to bury the dead chickens," he said. People typically catch bird flu by coming into direct contact with infected poultry.
The confusion over how to deal with the dead chickens in the state of 80 million people came as the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation warned that Bangladesh needed "house-to-house surveillance" to combat bird flu there.
"The situation has worsened in the past week compared to the first few months of the outbreak" of the H5N1 virus that began last February, FAO's Bangladesh chief Ad Spijkers told AFP.
"It's posing a danger to public health," Spijkers said in Dhaka, capital of impoverished Bangladesh where Indian officials believe India's H5N1 avian flu outbreak originated.
Aid "donors are going to meet with the government very soon to discuss comprehensive measures to fight the disease. It's posing a danger to public health," he said.
Spijkers' statement came amid a rise in reports of the disease in Bangladesh's southern, central and northern districts and border forces were put on high alert to stop poultry entering from West Bengal.
Bangladesh authorities insist the disease remains contained in the impoverished nation of 144 million people but experts differ, saying the situation is far worse and that farmers are holding back from reporting cases.
Meanwhile in India's West Bengal, doctors and veterinarians from neighbouring states were arriving in Kolkata to join the culling teams.
"Altogether 934 culling teams are involved in slaughtering poultry," said minister Rahaman, adding teams had killed nearly 700,000 out of 2.2 million chickens slated to be culled.

"The remaining will be culled in the next three to four days," he said.
Experts fear a pandemic if the H5N1 strain mutates into a form easily transmissible between humans.
Neither Bangladesh nor India has so far had any human cases of bird flu. But Rahaman said he feared the disease would spread to humans with hundreds of people reporting flu symptoms and children "playing with chickens."
However, shops and market stalls that previously were selling chicken were now selling vegetables in affected areas, witnesses reported.
Culling teams initially faced resistance from locals but villagers started handing over their poultry after the government began giving out immediate compensation for the dead birds.
But farmers in the poverty-stricken state still feared financial hardship.
"We've never heard of bird flu, but it's destroyed the village's economy, said poultry farmer Safirul Islam. Meanwhile in Indonesia, a 30-year-old man has died of bird flu, the government said Thursday, bringing the toll to 98 in the nation worst hit by the H5N1 virus.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/2008012...h&printer=1;_ylt=AgxxTliq0qY10h_kxmFsmDzuOrgF

HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

India fears H5N1 bird flu outbreak in Colcata

Published: Thursday 24 January 2008 11:55 UTC
Last updated: Thursday 24 January 2008 16:34 UTC

Kolkata - The Indian government fears a major outbreak of avian influenza in the city of Colcata. Dead birds found relatively close to the city tested positive for the H5N1 variant of the virus, which can be lethal to humans.

Bird flu has broken out in nine of the 19 districts of the federal state of West Bengal, in which Colcata is located. In at least two of these districts, the outbreak was caused by the H5N1 variant.

The Indian authorities have initiated a mass slaughter of the birds, but it is reportedly not going fast enough. At least two million birds will have to be killed.

Read more: http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/080103-bird-flu-vaccine target=_blank>Breakthrough in effective bird flu vaccine

http://www.radionetherlands.nl/news...India-fears-H5N1-bird-flu-outbreak-in-Colcata

HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

Bird flu awareness campaign to be launched on radio, TV

New Delhi, Jan 24 : With the deadly [COLOR=blue! important][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif][COLOR=blue! important][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]bird [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif][COLOR=blue! important][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]flu [/FONT][/color][COLOR=blue! important][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]virus[/FONT][/color][/FONT][/color][/color] spreading to more areas in West Bengal, a worried central government Thursday said awareness campaigns about the disease would be run in the electronic and [COLOR=blue! important][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif][COLOR=blue! important][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]print [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif][COLOR=blue! important][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]media[/FONT][/color][/FONT][/color][/color]. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed concern over the spread of the disease.
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Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said here Thursday that the prime minister had called for a widespread campaign be launched against the disease across the country.

"I have been directed by the prime minister to give widespread publicity to the bird flu situation," Dasmunsi told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

"We are launching a campaign via All India Radio as many villages have no access to television," the minister added.

A [COLOR=blue! important][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif][COLOR=blue! important][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]health[/FONT][/FONT][/color][/color] ministry official said: "The campaign includes broadcast of spots on private and government owned FM channels in West Bengal. The spots would be broadcast five to six times before and between popular programmes and the national news during morning and late evening hours."

The states to be covered include Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Orissa, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

The official Doordarshan television centres in Patna, Ranchi, Kolkata and Guwahati would start telecasting bird flu campaigns.

Though bird flu was not on the cabinet's agenda, the issue was discussed at length. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar gave a detailed account of the situation in West Bengal, where nine districts have been affected by avian influenza.

Dasmunsi blamed the state government for its "lethargy" in reporting the bird flu situation.

"There was a little delay in culling the birds. The bird flu started Jan 4 in some parts of West Bengal but the attention of the central government was drawn only on Jan 11," the minister said.

Dasmunsi said that a "timely joint initiative (by the centre and the state) could have been launched earlier to control it".

India confirmed Jan 15 the outbreak of bird flu after [COLOR=blue! important][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif][COLOR=blue! important][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]laboratory [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif][COLOR=blue! important][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]tests[/FONT][/color][/FONT][/color][/color] found the H5N1 strains in the dead poultry in Birbhum and South Dinajpur districts of West Bengal.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has already expressed concern over the situation in West Bengal and termed it as "serious".

Of over 2.1 million poultry earmarked for culling in the nine districts, only 430,000 have been slaughtered so far - nine days after the outbreak was declared.

Dasmunsi said the West Bengal chief secretary was in touch with the agriculture ministry on a day-to-day basis.

The state has informed the centre that it has adequate medicines and equipment to handle the situation, Dasmunsi said. "The culling operation is on, and if required the centre would provide all necessary help to West Bengal."
--- IANS

http://www.newkerala.com/one.php?action=fullnews&id=16736

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HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=vilotbiggest colSpan=2>Culling operations speeded up in West Bengal</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=blackbold></TD></TR><TR><TD class=blacktextgen>Thursday, 24 January , 2008, 22:44</TD></TR><TR><TD height=24></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left width="100%"></TD></TR><TR><TD height=32></TD></TR><TR><TD class=blacktext align=left>
New Delhi: Poultry death due to the dreaded bird flu reached over 1.18 lakh in West Bengal today as the culling operations were speeded up with the teams fanning out to three more districts. 
The culling operations have started in Malda, Cooch Behar and Hooghly districts of the state today, Union Animal Husbandry Commissioner S K Bandhopadhyay said here.
The total number of poultry culled reached 6,65,633, he said, adding the virus was not detected in any fresh area today.
When asked about whether there is any proposal to increase the compensation, Bandhopadhyay said, "There is nothing on paper.?
The Commissioner said that it would take six-to-seven days to complete the culling operations, provided the virus does not spread to new areas. The number of birds to be culled as per the latest estimate is 24 lakhs.
He said the West Bengal government would increase the number of teams in Murshidabad districts.
The source of the virus has not been detected yet, he said, adding Bhutan has banned the poultry imports from India. Meanwhile, allaying fears of any human cases, the Union Health Ministry said persons having Upper Respiratory Infection or fever were being monitored. Health care facilities have been identified with isolation ward and critical health care facilities for management of human cases of Avian Influenza.
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http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14594476

HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #dcdcdc 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #dcdcdc 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #dcdcdc 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #dcdcdc 1px solid"></TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-TOP: 10px"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080039403&ch=1/24/2008%2010:27:00%20PM
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=255></TD><TD width=380></TD></TR><TR style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px"><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #dcdcdc 1px solid" colSpan=2>Bird flu: Cullers strive to soften blow

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</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left>Monideepa Banerjie

Thursday, January 24, 2008 (Kolkata)

The culling teams in Hooghly district are having a hard time. They are going from door to door in search of chicken, getting into arguments with villagers and getting nowhere.

Pigeon owner Ripon Das has a coop full of pigeons, which he is determined not to part with.

''I will not let them kill the pigeons. I have had them for a long time as pets. I cannot give them away with my own hands to be killed,'' said Ripon Das, Pigeon owner.

But the culling teams are not losing heart. In fact, at Sherpur village, they actually demonstrated that their heart was in the right place.

In a bid to win over people who must lose their chicken, the culling teams are making compromises.

They are counting as live chicken that have died or are almost dead in the coops in the homes of the villagers and they are paying compensation for them.

At another bird owner Ashoka Das's home, for instance, there were two dead chicken in the coop along with three live ones.

While calculating compensation, the cullers slipped in compensation for the dead chicken as well. So Ashoka got paid for five chicken and not just the three that were culled.
''We are paying people who are poor a little extra. It is not being given to everybody but yes we are making exceptions. These people are very poor we know that,'' said Swapan Mallick, Chicken culler

Culling is cruel business, and the cullers know they are hitting people where it hurts in their hearts and in their pockets. So, even if the compensation bill is a little inflated, they would rather cull with kindness.

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HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

TODAY'S EDITORIAL: Bird Flu Backlash</ARTTITLE>
25 Jan 2008, 0001 hrs IST

SMS NEWS to 58888 for latest updates

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>More than 6,00,000 eggs are piling up in Namakkal, the poultry capital of Tamil Nadu, even as egg prices slide with the fall in demand. Thousands of broiler chickens are waiting in the wings as poultry entrepreneurs pray for importers to resume buying.

The avian flu outbreak in West Bengal has simply devastated the poultry farmer in Tamil Nadu ? setting the industry back by over Rs 500 crore ? though the distance between the two states is thousands of kilometres and there is absolutely no sign of the virus in the south.

Meanwhile, the government of West Bengal ? where the H5N1 flu virus has now infected poultry in half the state ? is unable to contain the outbreak. It is wasting precious time sparring with the Centre, which has accused the state government of not doing enough on time.

This, however, is not the time for mudslinging. Little has been done to enlighten people on what the culling drive is all about. Hence the state faces problems of hidden poultry and backyard culling, leading to poor sanitation and greater risk of infection.

The West Bengal government must act quickly to contain the outbreak, before it spreads to neighbouring states.

Five persons have been quarantined in West Bengal as they have shown symptoms of avian flu, but as yet there are no confirmed cases. Right now the impact on the poultry industry is much more disconcerting. It is losing out on huge export orders to countries in the Gulf among others.

Fear of a possible pandemic is turning consumers away from chicken and eggs. This is a pity since they are a relatively affordable source of protein.

Poultry exporters say that they want the central government to divide the country zone-wise so that there is a clear understanding of which parts are affected and which are not.

Zoning would help producers label their products. This proposal should be implemented. Zoning and labelling would help revive exports somewhat.

The World Health Organisation says this is the worst outbreak of H5N1 virus in India till date. But the infrastructure and laboratory facilities to enable documentation, testing, detection and research in both animal/bird and human samples are inadequate.

There are just two facilities, in Bhopal and in Pune, for testing avian samples and one each in Pune, Kolkata and Delhi for human tests.

Bird flu outbreaks have happened in India before, in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Manipur. It looks like it is going to be a recurrent problem. West Bengal officials say at least another 1,000 vets and doctors are needed to deal with the outbreak. Clearly, it is not being tackled with sufficient urgency.

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/rssarticleshow/msid-2729222,prtpage-1.cms

HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

Calcutta under threat as bird flu flares in Asia
India seeks to stop virus spread amid new death reports, U.N. warning
The Associated Press
updated 1:38 p.m. ET, Thurs., Jan. 24, 2008
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CALCUTTA, India - Authorities went stall to stall in Indian poultry markets Thursday, trying to stop the country's worst outbreak of bird flu from spreading to crowded Calcutta, while Indonesia and Vietnam reported new human deaths ? prompting a United Nations warning of the global threat posed by the virus.
The danger of the virulent H5N1 strain of the disease was illustrated in Indonesia, where a man from the outskirts of Jakarta died of bird flu Thursday, bringing the country's death toll to 98. On Wednesday, Vietnam announced its first death this year, taking its toll to 48 since the virus began devastating Asian poultry stocks in late 2003.
Also Thursday, Thailand reported its first outbreak in 10 months.
Bird flu has killed at least 221 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Although it remains hard for humans to catch, experts fear it will mutate into a new form that spreads easily among people, potentially sparking a pandemic.
Fears of the virus spreading in the chaotic crowded streets of Calcutta prompted city health officials to send teams to inspect city markets for signs of the disease after it was discovered just 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the city of 14 million people.
Health authorities ? hampered by crippling bureaucracy, a shortage of qualified personnel, ignorance among villagers and even bad weather ? have struggled to contain the outbreak, a stark reminder that much of the country has been left behind as India emerges as a global economic power.
"Culling is slow and ham-handed," said West Bengal Poultry Welfare Association President Sheikh Nazrul Islam, who said losses to the poultry industry totaled 1 billion rupees ($25 million) in the last week.
While India has successfully contained two previous outbreaks, both were in large poultry farms. This outbreak has largely struck chickens kept by peasants in their small yards, and many villagers, unaware of the dangers, hid their chickens or smuggled them to other areas.
For many in the impoverished state of West Bengal, the birds provide a main source of income.
In the village of Magram, Manwara Bibi cried as she gave her 30 chickens to the veterinarians sent to slaughter them.
"My heart broke to hand over the chickens. The money we could get by selling these chickens would provide us help during bad days," she said. Many have complained that government compensation was inadequate or slow in coming.
About 700,000 birds have been slaughtered since the disease was discovered last week in the state, and health workers plan to kill another 1.4 million, said state Animal Husbandry Minister Anisur Rahman.
"We are doing our best to stop the virus from spreading to Calcutta and other districts, " Rahman said, adding that some 750 teams were involved in the slaughter.
India's neighbors, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Bangladesh, all announced they were halting imports of poultry products from India.
Also Thursday, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization issued a statement in Rome warning that despite international efforts bird flu remains a global threat.
"The H5N1 avian influenza crisis is far from over and remains particularly worrying in Indonesia, Bangladesh and Egypt, where the virus has become deeply entrenched despite major control efforts," FAO Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech said in the statement.
"The virus has not become more contagious to humans but has managed to persist in parts of Asia, Africa and probably Europe. It could still trigger a human influenza pandemic," he said.
Officials in Indonesia, the country hardest hit by the disease, have not determined how the 30-year-old man who died Thursday became infected with the H5N1 virus, said Sunan Raja, an official at the Health Ministry's Bird Flu Center.
Officials in a number of Asian countries have urged increased monitoring of the disease, which tends to flare during the colder months. Vietnam and China have stressed the need for heightened vigilance before the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, when large numbers of people and poultry are on the move.
Thailand on Thursday announced its first bird flu outbreak in 10 months, at a farm in the country's north. Livestock officials in Turkey also have been battling the disease this week.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

Flu panic rises as goats drop dead</ARTTITLE>
25 Jan 2008, 0223 hrs IST

,

Caesar Mandal

,

TNN

SMS NEWS to 58888 for latest updates

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>MARGRAM (BIRBHUM): Hundreds of goats have died of an unknown disease over the past four days in Birbhum's Rampurhat block II.

Some experts warned that if the H5N1 virus ? which causes bird flu ? has jumped from birds to mammals, it could be the turn of humans next.

TOI met jittery villagers in Dakhalbati, one of the affected villages in Birbhum's Margram. Abdul Mohid, a farmer, said his goat was shivering and sneezing and saliva was oozing from its mouth. Mohid had called in a local vet, who could only say the animal was suffering from high fever but could not pinpoint a disease. Though he prescribed medicines, those have not worked.

Mohid, who has already lost 35 chickens to bird flu, is now scared about his livestock. He said that several neighbours had lost their goats as well to the mystery ailment.

His neighbour Seikh Kalim has buried seven goats over the past two days. They were suffering from a similar disease. In their case, too, drugs prescribed refused to work. The animals had fever and their throats started swelling before they fell unconscious and died within minutes. At Dakhalbati, more than 60 goats have died so far.

Villagers are blaming bird flu, as the symptoms are similar. But the state administration has claimed there was no information of cattle dying in the district. "It could be pneumonia, which commonly affects goats. But an H5N1 attack is not impossible. Pigs are proven carriers and since these goats have been sharing space with the affected birds, they are vulnerable. Chances of humans contracting the disease can't be ruled out," said Shyamalendu Chatterjee of the Indian Council for Medical Research.

Others like Barun Roy, an animal diseases expert, pointed out that H5N1 was yet to affect cattle anywhere in the world. "It is unheard of. The goats must have been suffering from pneumonia," Roy said. The state administration, too, has claimed it had no information of goats dying in the district.

Bird flu has resulted in huge financial losses for the villagers. They are not happy with the compensation. Now, most are trying to sell off their goats. "I have sold three goats at a low price. If this disease is bird flu, goats would be killed and I would lose my entire investment," said Mohammad Motier Rahaman, who lost three goats in two days.

Reports of hundreds of goats dying have also come in from Murshidabad's Khargram and Beldanga areas.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/rssarticleshow/msid-2729526,prtpage-1.cms

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HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01240804/Birbhum_Goats.html

HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

First Published: 02:22 IST(25/1/2008)
Last Updated: 02:27 IST(25/1/2008)

Bird flu heads for Kolkata

Poultries in and around Kolkata could be the next destination of the dreaded H5N1 virus.
Though the state animal resource development department minister, Anisur Rahman, at Writers? Buildings, on Thursday, termed the city as ?safe? zone, he has not ruled out the chances of getting poultry birds in and around the city infected in a day or two with the dreaded Avian Flu virus. ?The movements of migratory birds are not under our control, neither the Alipore Zoo authority could take any preventive measures in this regard. All we can do is to keep close watch on the movements of these birds,? the state animal resource development department minister said.
According to principal secretary, state animal resource development department, Dilip Chakraborty, the department is working in close coordination with the forest and health department so that Zoological Garden official could report the government if there is any unnatural death of a migratory bird in Alipore Zoo. ?The problem is that these migratory birds do not stay at one place for longer time. We don?t even know from where they are coming. There are lots of birds in the zoo and poultries in and around the city that could get infected if any migratory bird carries the germ of this dreaded virus from the infected zone,? Chakraborty added.
Despite the fact that both the state government and Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) are keeping constant surveillance on the local poultry markets, issuing a blanket ban on the sale of chicken from backyard firms in the city, both the principal secretary and the minister admit their helplessness in controlling this. ?We have to depend on the KMC in this regard. Only KMC could keep a constant watch so that no one could sale chicken from the backyard firms along with the poultry chickens. We have already sealed the entry points, its now the KMC to keep this city free from this virus,? Rahman said.
The state Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, on the other hand, held a high-level meeting with the state animal resource development minister, principal secretary, additional chief secretary, home, Prasad Ranjan Ray so that culling of poultry birds in the affected areas could get completed within a day or two. The Chief Minister, on Thursday, announced an additional grant of Rs 8.25 crore from the state ex-chequer for carrying out the culling operation as fast as possible. The Union Government would be sending another Rs 8.25 crores in a day or two.
?The Chief Minister is holding regular teleconferences with the Union Agriculture and Food Supply Minister, Sharad Pawar in this regard. The Avian Flu disease has proved more costly in West Bengal than Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh as it attacked only the poultry birds there, while it happened in the case of backyard firms in Bengal. It was easier for those governments to carry out the culling exercise, while it is becoming tougher day by day for us as most of the villagers rear poultry birds at backyards like their own children. The culling exercise is taking more time in Bengal districts,? Rahman added.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=a4076820-c536-4a40-85a8-66bd68ed8f2a

HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

Bird flu: Centre, Bengal in turf war</ARTTITLE>
25 Jan 2008, 0249 hrs IST

,

Kounteya Sinha

,

TNN

SMS NEWS to 58888 for latest updates

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>NEW DELHI: West Bengal has asked the Union health ministry to inform the state government before collecting any human samples in the bird flu-hit areas.

The request has come after a National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, team visited the state to collect blood and throat samples of five people from Murshidabad, who had shown suspected symptoms of bird flu. Later, tests conducted in NICD (Delhi), NICED (Kolkata) and NIV (Pune) proved negative.

According to the state government, state health officials there had no clue that samples were being collected.
West Bengal health secretary R S Shukla told TOI: "We just don't want any information gap, especially because the state and the Centre are jointly coordinating control operations."

He added: "We have no problem about government of India officials collecting samples. It is for the state's good that monitoring is being carried out. But because we are handling the situation on the ground, we don't want villagers to feel jittery because samples are being collected from them by unknown people. An official has also been put in charge who will keep a tab on the movement of all Union government officials."

Meanwhile, even as the H5N1 avian influenza virus threatens to go out of control, with nine of the state's largest districts infected with it, the state and the Centre continue to be at loggerheads. Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss, on being asked recently whether the delay in West Bengal alerting the Centre over unusual bird mortality contributed to the disease spreading so fast, said: "It could have been handled better."

He said: "There was a delay of nearly a week for notices to be sent to us but now things have been put on track."
Even Panabaka Laxmi, MoS, health, and Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar have been critical of West Bengal for its slack handling of the emergency. An official said: "West Bengal has finally woken up. They realize this is serious both for their people and nutritional security."

I&B minister P R Dasmunsi too took a dig at the state government on Thursday after a cabinet meeting saying culling started late due to the state's late reporting of poultry mortality.

(kounteya.sinha@timesgroup.com)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Bird_flu_Centre_Bengal_in_turf_war/articleshow/2729575.cms

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HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

Wild bird deaths spark cull debate</ARTTITLE>
25 Jan 2008, 0227 hrs IST

,

Prithvijit Mitra

,

TNN

SMS NEWS to 58888 for latest updates

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>KOLKATA: Many migratory birds are dying in lakes and bils of Bengal?s bird flu-hit areas. But neither the state animal resources department (ARD) nor the forest officials had any clue about steps that need to be taken.

While the ARD said it was up to the forest department to decide on the course of action, the latter was waiting for directions from the Centre as there are no instances of migratory birds being culled in India.

The good news for Kolkata amid the confusion was that the dead bird recovered from the Santragachhi lake last week had not been infected by the virus.

"We have collected blood samples of migratory birds from Cooch Behar, where a lesser whistling teal died recently. It has already been passed on to the High Risk Animal Diseases Laboratory in Bhopal and we are expecting the test result shortly. But we are not sure of the measures to be taken in case H5NI is confirmed. It is up to the Centre to take a call on this since migratory birds have never been culled in India," said Ujjwal Bhattacharya, chief conservator of forests, wildlife.

Experts, on the other hand, warned that merely checking blood samples may not help curb the spread of the virus since migratory birds were carriers. "They are rarely affected but can spread the virus quickly. If chickens are being culled as a precaution then there is no reason why they should be spared. Or else, the virus will continue to spread," said animal diseases expert Barun Roy.

A team from Delhi has collected samples in Birbhum but refused to divulge details to the forest department here. The lack of coordination between the authorities in Kolkata and Delhi has rendered the culling operation ineffective, felt some.

"First, we have no idea what to do if the samples test positive. We have never conducted such operation and don?t know if that is permitted. Time is running out for the virus has already affected almost half of the state," said a senior forest officer.

The ARD admits that a decision on migratory birds needs to be taken fast but they have their hands tied. "As of now, we are yet to come across a positive case. Even if we do, we must wait for directions from Delhi. It is up to them to decide," said state ARD minister Anisur Rehman. The ARD, Rehman admitted, was not equipped to cull migratory birds.

Meanwhile, ARD authorities heaved a sigh of relief as the post-mortem report of the bird recovered at Santragachhi revealed it died of pneumonia. The forest department was keeping a vigil in the area.

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/rssarticleshow/msid-2729529,prtpage-1.cms

HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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>Crow deaths cause a flutter in Kolkata

Express news service
Posted online: Friday, January 25, 2008 at 0019 hrs IST
KOLKATA, JANUARY 24
Kolkata is on the edge. With bird flu spreading fast across West Bengal, the city authorities had enough reason to panic when bird deaths, especially among crows, were reported from some parts of Kolkata.
After two dead crows were spotted in Bowbazar area on Thursday morning, panic stricken residents informed the Kolkata Municipal Corporation control room. ?Bird deaths are quite uncommon in our area. I spotted the two dead crows in the morning and informed KMC control room. The KMC men collected the dead birds by afternoon,? said local resident Banik Mukherjee.
Dev Daipayan Chattopadhyay, Chief Municipal Officer of the Health Department, said the birds have been sent to the Veterinary College in Belgachia for tests.
But Kolkata seems ill-equipped to manage a major outbreak. KMC has just seven veterinary doctors to monitor the situation in 15 localities. The duty of KMC vet doctors is limited to monitoring the work of the six slaughter houses and have not been given equipment or protective gear to tackle the situation.
?We have ordered uniforms from the State Health Department to meet any sort of emergency situation that might arise in areas under the jurisdiction of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation,? said Chattopadhyay, adding that KMC has decided to hire eight more veterinary doctors on a temporary basis.
Meanwhile, the sale of chicken and eggs in city markets have been hit by the latest outbreak. ?The supply is down to one-tenth of the average. The last stock, which arrived on Sunday, has not yet been sold out,? said Manju Bibi, a chicken shop owner in Gariahat. The price of eggs has also dropped from Rs 2.50 to Re 1. A major portion of the supply in the market comes from Basirhat in North 24 Parganas.
Facing financial ruin, poultry owners on Thursday met Animal Resources Development (ARD) Minister Anisur Rehman and demanded that the Government provide them some relief. ?We are losing Rs 10 crore every day. But the fact is that organised poultry farms have not been affected by the virus. Few people are aware that 85 per cent of the one crore eggs consumed in West Bengal everyday comes from Andhra Pradesh,? said Gautam Bhadra, treasurer of the West Bengal Poultry Welfare Association. Bhadra and others have also met home secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray and ARD secretary Dilip Chakrabarty.
?We are aware of the ordeal they are going through and have told them to give us an account of their losses. We will have to talk to the Central Government regarding this. But right now our first priority is to contain the outbreak,? Chakrabarty told The Indian Express.
Meanwhile, out of the target of 20 lakh chicken, the Government has been able to cull 6.65 lakh birds so far. While 583 culling teams were in action till Thursday, a total of 950 teams will be pressed into service by Friday. The Government will be distributing Rs 23 crore as compensation to the chicken owners.

http://www.indianexpress.com/printerFriendly/265282.html

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HenryN · Jan 24, 2008

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

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=articleheader>Bird blocks on state borders
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=articleauthor>OUR BUREAU</TD></TR><TR><TD class=story align=left>

Jan. 24: The number of bird flu-affected districts in the state today remained stationary at nine, but the Centre has ordered Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa to impose a complete blockade on the entry of poultry from Bengal.
District administrators in the neighbouring states have been asked to ensure strict vigil, sources said. ?There?s no evidence yet of the bird flu virus in any of these states, but we don?t want to take any chances,? a source said.
?We don?t want to see any poultry movement across the borders ? neither in truckloads nor on bicycles,? a senior official said.
According to another official, the Bhutan government has told the Indian embassy in Thimphu that it would no longer accept poultry from India. Nepal has already banned the import of poultry products from India.
The Union health ministry said seven teams were helping authorities in Bengal examine people in five districts ? South Dinajpur, Birbhum, Murshidabad, Nadia and Burdwan.
Thousands of people have been tested in these districts but no suspected case of bird flu has been detected.
?Many people have been found with respiratory infections, but none so far with symptoms that can be classified as suspected avian influenza,? an official said.
However, in Birbhum, seven animal health workers have been found medically unfit and given anti-viral treatment.
All staff involved in culling and human surveillance activity are taking daily doses of oseltamivir, the anti-viral drug that works against influenza viruses.
State animal resource development minister Anisur Rahman said 938 rapid response teams culled over three lakh chickens today. ?We had culled over seven lakh birds till yesterday,? he added.
Panic gripped Jalpaiguri, where at least 350 birds have died since yesterday in three different places. ?We have decided to cull birds within 3km of any area found to be affected by the H5N1 virus,? Banamali Roy, the sabhadhipati of the Jalpaiguri zilla parishad, said.
Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today spoke to Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and urged him to speed up the despatch of funds to rehabilitate villagers who had lost their poultry.
?We shall shortly prepare a rehabilitation package and send it to the Centre for approval,? Rahman said.
The state government has spent Rs 8.5 crore on culling operations so far and a matching amount is expected from the Centre.
The minister said culling was over in South Dinajpur and all diseased birds would be destroyed in Burdwan and Bankura tomorrow. In Hooghly, which was declared flu-hit yesterday along with Cooch Behar, 4,000 chickens were culled today.
Chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb said the current target of culling 20 lakh birds would be met by January 30. ?The rapid response teams need to locate the poultry, convince people to hand over birds for culling and pay the stipulated compensation,? he added.
Villagers in some parts of the state continued to resist flu-fighters.
In Malda, residents of Bistupur surrounded a culling team?s car and forced it back. ?They would have set fire to our car had we stayed there for long,? said Sutapa Mukherjee, a member of the team.
Culling was delayed in Chanchol, too, where villagers demanded compensation matching the market rate of chickens before the outbreak.
?Those who are resisting culling are flirting with danger. We will force them to hand over their birds tomorrow,? Malda district magistrate Chittaranjan Das said.
Culling in Nadia?s Tehatta was stalled for over two hours after villagers alleged that rapid response teams had killed birds by smashing them against walls. District officials intervened and brought things under control.

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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080125/jsp/bengal/story_8824139.jsp

Treyfish · Jan 24, 2008

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

Village heads meet in North Dinajpur
Statesman News Service
RAIGANJ, Jan. 24: The North Dinajpur district administration has decided to cull around 16,000 domestic birds in villages that come under the Gulandar-11 and Surun-1 gram panchayats of Itahar. The culling is expected to start from Saturday.
To avoid resistance while culling, as is being reported from different districts, the North Dinajpur district administration today held a meeting in Itahar with the pradhans and members of gram panchayats of villages affected by bird flu. Doctors of animal health department and leaders of all political parties were also present in the meeting.
According to the ADM, North Dinajpur, Mr Jaideb Saha, fouls and ducks belonging to the villages of two gram panchayats that come within a 5 km radius from the spot in Chanchal of Malda district where bird-flu was detected will be culled in keeping with the state government's directive. ?There are no organised poultry farms in these villages but around 16,000 birds including chickens and ducks are being nursed in some small hatcheries and houses of the region,? the ADM, said.:tiphat: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=10&theme=&usrsess=1&id=187400

India - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 24+

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