The Hindu : Front Page : Culling to be extended to more areas

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Friday, Jan 18, 2008
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Culling to be extended to more areas

Special Correspondent

Three more districts report bird deaths but no symptoms of avian flu: Minister

— PHOTO: AP

No escape: A boy displays chicks held in a fishing net as he prepares to hand over them for culling in Batul village, Margram, in West Bengal on Thursday. India and Bangladesh searched for new cases of bird flu as authorities pressed ahead with plans to slaughter hundreds of thousands of birds in a bid to keep the outbreak from spreading.

KOLKATA: With reports of poultry birds dying in fresh areas, the West Bengal government has decided to extend culling operations in areas in Murshidabad district rather than wait for a Central notification, Anisur Rahaman, Minister for Animal Resources Development, told The Hindu here on Thursday.

There were also reports of poultry bird deaths from Burdwan, South 24 Parganas and Nadia districts but symptoms of avian flu had not been found, he added.

The pace of culling operations picked up significantly after initial delays attributed to the reluctance of local people to hand over their chickens to the authorities. They were being convinced of the need to cull the birds because of health risks from infection and were assured that financial compensation will be provided to them at the earliest.

Mr Rahaman said that in view of reports of an increase in the number of deaths of poultry birds over the past day the number of chickens to be culled could well surpass the earlier estimate of nearly four lakhs.

Personnel of the Health department attired in special gear fanned out in the affected blocks to carry out culling operations expected to continue for some days to come.

The virus has not infected humans and there is no cause for panic, an official of a high-level team of the Union Health Ministry, said. Members of the team reviewed the situation with State officials, called for the “highest possible alert” and added that “things were moving at the desired pace”.

The sale of chicken and eggs has started dipping in markets across the State as news of the avian flu outbreak spread. Prices have dropped too. The city’s civic authorities sent teams to the different markets for an inspection of the health of chickens on sale there. The authorities concerned have stopped supplying chicken in aircraft and trains leaving the city.

Mr. Rahaman discounted reports of any delay on the part of the local authorities to report the developments in the affected areas. Immediate steps had been taken to spread awareness in the affected areas of the need to isolate and put to death chickens in backyard farms that fell within a radius of between three and five km from where the deaths of thousands of birds had been reported over the past few days.

The State’s Wild Life authorities have been put on the alert and instructed to report on any unusual death of birds.

There were reports from parts of Birbhum district of some crows being found dead.

A general alert across the State is in place and strictures have been imposed on the movement of any poultry bird or product across its border with Bangladesh.

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