Culling begins as second outbreak of bird flu in West Bengal detected this year

by Rich Bowden - Mar 11 2008, 04:38

Thousands of chickens in the West Bengal district of Murshidabad are being culled as veterinary officials announced they have detected the second outbreak of the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus to occur in the region this year.

More than one million birds were slaughtered in January as a precautionary measure however officials had assured locals that the outbreak was under control.

However over 900 chicken and ducks were recently discovered to have died in the Murshidabad district in the last fortnight as veterinary officials battled to prevent another bird flu outbreak from spreading.

The West Bengali government has blamed poultry smuggling from neighbouring Bangladesh as the cause of the outbreak.

"The virus could have been transmitted through smuggling of poultry from bordering Bangladesh, which is hit by avian flu," said West Bengal's animal resources minister, Anisur Rahaman, reported the BBC however he conceded the disease may have resurfaced as villagers hid their sick birds from special government representatives sent out to destroy the poultry in the last outbreak.

As a precautionary measure, trucks driving through the international checkpoint from Bangladesh were being sprayed with disinfectant, reported the Indian newspaper The Statesman. It quoted a senior official as saying, "It is better to get ready to meet the situation because there is no mechanism to stop spreading of the virus."

The HSN1 virus is contracted by humans from contact with birds such as chickens and ducks however world health authorities say their real fear is if the virus mutates so that it can be passed from human to human which could lead to a global pandemic.

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