West Bengal appeals over bird flu

Officials in the Indian state of West Bengal have appealed to other states to help cull up to two million chickens suspected of having bird flu.

Their appeal comes as health experts in the state warn that the disease threatens to spiral out of control.

A team of officials from Delhi has told the state government that the pace of the culling operation is too slow.

Some birds were found to be carrying the H5N1 virus which can cause avian influenza in humans, officials say.

Poultry ban

"There is every chance of the virus spiralling out of hand if it's too late," Sanchita Bakshi, the state health services director told the Reuters news agency.

Officials say that the disease now affects seven of the 19 districts in West Bengal, with a combined population of 24 million people.

Meanwhile Nepal has banned poultry imports from India and there are fears about an outbreak of bird flu in neighbouring Bangladesh.

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

State Health Minister Surya Kanta Mishra appealed to eight other Indian states - including Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu - for assistance in the culling operation after meeting with a team of health officials from Delhi on Tuesday.

The BBC's Amitabha Bhattasali in Calcutta says that the team from Delhi is concerned that the cull in West Bengal is too slow and that so far only about 300,000 birds have been disposed of.

Our correspondent say the authorities face a major logistical challenge, because many of the chickens in infected areas roam around in the open and in many cases have to be chased and caught before being killed.

Basic hygiene

However, there was some good news for the state government on Tuesday, with test results on five people suspected of contracting the human form of the disease proving negative.

Poultry business leaders in southern state of Tamil Nadu have also played down earlier concerns that the bird flu outbreak in West Bengal could undermine the multi-billion-dollar export market of chicken to Middle Eastern countries.

Correspondents say that efforts to contain the disease in West Bengal are being hampered because farmers insist that their poultry is healthy, and refuse to hand them over for culling.

The problem is made worse because many poor and illiterate farmers are sometimes misinformed about basic hygiene.

Dead birds are reported to have been dumped in village wells and ponds by people not aware of the risks from the H5N1 virus.

Some villagers are also reported to have refused to give up their chickens, claiming government compensation was inadequate.

The state government says that it wants to combat this by getting health workers to intensify an awareness drive.

India faced a major outbreak of bird flu in the north-eastern state of Manipur last year which was contained.

So too were previous outbreaks in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

(coutesy bbc news)

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