Bird flu strikes again, two Bengal villages affected

Less than three months of declaring it free from the dreaded bird flu, the virus has resurfaced in India with confirmed cases being reported from Nadia district of West Bengal. The agriculture ministry said the bird flu cases have been reported from two villages in Tehatta block in Nadia district of West Bengal.

“Samples forwarded to the ERDDL, Kolkata and High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL), Bhopal have tested positive for H5 strain of Avian Influenza (bird flu),” an official statement said.

According to a PTI report, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has directed the union animal husbandry department to take steps in coordination with the state government to prevent the incident from spreading further.

“The Prime Minister directed the department to closely monitor the situation to prevent any outbreak even though the incidence is restricted to a few villages,” the report said quoting unnamed sources from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Meanwhile, authorities have started culling of poultry to check the spread of the virus.

“Culling of entire poultry and destruction of eggs within a radius of three kilometers from the epicenter of the attack has already started,” the ministry said in a statement.

The government is also undertaking constant surveillance of poultry and eggs within a radius of 10 kilometers.

Incidentally, only last month, the Food and Agriculture Organization had warned that there is strong possibility of bird flu again hitting India along with other countries in Asia because of its proximity to major infected areas.

The last attack of bird flu in India was reported in February-March 2011 from Tripura. The disease had hit India for the first time in 2006 in Maharashtra. Since then, off and on there have been attacks of bird flu on poultry in India.

The cases have been mostly confined to eastern parts of the country, which experts believe is much more prone to bird flu because of unrestricted flow of birds from neighbouring Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, the government of India has decided to share costs of compensation on 50:50 basis with the West Bengal government and authorised the state government to utilise funds available with them under the programme of ‘Assistance to States for Control of Animal Disease’ (ASCAD), for controlling the disease. "The state government should ensure that payment of compensation for culling should be given immediately and simultaneously,” the statement said.