Bird flu fears grip West Bengal again

Murshidabad, Mar 9 : A fresh outbreak of bird-flu has occurred in West Bengal following fresh reports of chicken deaths in some areas of Murshidabad and Birbhum District.

The State Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rehman said on Sunday that recent chicken deaths had been reported from Raghunathganj block in Murshidabad District.

The blood samples had been sent to the High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal for confirmation of H5N1, Rehman said.

"We are awaiting the test results AMD will take steps accordingly," Rehman said.

He ruled out any major outbreak in any other part of the State and added that his department is in contact with the panchyats and is keeping stock of every incident.

Rehman also admitted that the culling operations were not full proof in the affected Districts. He said it was not possible for the State Government to make the system totally foolproof.

"We have checked the outbreak, but there maybe stray cases," he added.

West Bengal had sealed a stretch of its border with Bangladesh, which has been fighting to contain the spread of bird flu since March last year.

Around 1.50 lakh poultry birds have died of avian influenza, while 38 lakh or over six percent of the total poultry in the State has been culled.

The bird flu virus had affected a total 50 blocks in 16 out of the 19 districts of the State.

ANI