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Saturday, Jan 19, 2008
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Bird flu spreads to new areas

Special Correspondent

Situation alarming, four lakh birds need to be killed, says Buddhadeb

Photo: AP

TACKLING A THREAT: Health officials on a mission to cull birds at Namopara Bazaar village in West Bengal on Friday. —

KOLKATA: With reports of deaths of more poultry birds due to avian flu from different regions pouring in, the West Bengal government on Friday called for intensifying culling operations.

It has spread to parts of Birbhum and South Dinajpur districts and two blocks of adjoining Murshidabad district, where more than 10,000 chickens have died over the past four days. Unusually high number of deaths of poultry birds have also been reported from Burdwan, Nadia and Bankura districts.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who described the situation as “alarming,” said there was “no alternative” but to step up culling operations, which began on Wednesday.

There was, however, no report of any humans having been infected by the virus, he said. “The numbers of those engaged in culling work has to be increased substantially … we will have to kill nearly four lakh birds in the affected areas at the earliest,” Mr. Bhattacharjee said.

Anxiety in Kolkata

Nearly 40,000 birds were culled in a single day but there was need to hasten the process. A deadline of a week had been set for the culling operations to be completed.

There was anxiety in Kolkata and its suburbs following reports of the deaths of crows and owls in some areas.

It was later established that the deaths were normal and there was no cause for panic. Kolkata is in a state of general alert like the rest of the State. There are no reports of any deaths in the city’s poultries either.

The Finance Department has allocated Rs. 3 crore for compensation to those having to give away their chickens and sell poultry products in the areas affected by avian flu.

The Chief Minister reviewed the situation with Central Livestock Commissioner S.K. Banerjee, Ministers and officials of the State’s Animal Resources Development and Health departments.

Mr. Bhattacharjee said the authorities would call for the culling of birds without waiting for a confirmation of the presence of the disease from the High Risk Animal Diseases Laboratory, Bhopal.

Sixty teams comprising five members each fanned out to the affected areas for the operations but there was a need for more such teams.

Medical workers had also been sent to these areas to check whether any human being has been affected.

Even as there were reports quoting the World Health Organisation authorities as saying that the outbreak in parts of the State could possibly be one of the worst H5N1 epidemics ever, the United States Consul-General in the city, H.V. Jardine, said his country could consider any request for help to tackle the situation.

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