The outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed in Malda district of West Bengal weeks after it was reported in some districts of Assam. Authorities have identified the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu after examining blood samples of dead chicken.
Despite reports of repeated death of poultry in a number of villages of the district, the culling operation is very slow due to the non-cooperation of villagers in want of compensation money. Meanwhile, the people have been asked to refrain from sale, purchase and eating of poultry products.
Earlier in a massive culling operation, over three lakh chickens have been culled in northeastern state of Assam over the last three-four days. The Central government has also sent bird flu experts and health officials to take stock of the situation, though no such cases of human infection have been reported so far.
In Assam culling operation was carried out in several areas, including Guwahati, Rani, Rampur, Bezera Blocks of Kamrup, Kamrup (Metro) districts, Gobardhana and Bojali blocks of Barpeta District, Paschim Nalbari block of Nalbari district, Sidli Chirang block of Chirang district and Dibrugarh town.
The state government has notified in a press statement that all poultry farmers have been compensated adequately. The rates of compensation notified by the administration are Rs. 90 for layer, Rs. 80 for broiler and Rs. 125 for duck. Farmers have also been asked to cooperate with the officials engaged with control and containment operations.
Teams of Central medical experts have been sent to the affected areas of West Bengal to assist local veterinary officials. Epidemiologists and microbiologists are also keeping a close watch on humans with all preventive measures in case the virus spreads to humans, including 10,000 Tamiflu capsules, 6,000 surgical masks and two ventilators.
Bird flu has been worrying factor time and again, especially during the winter season when migratory birds flock to this region. Millions of chickens and ducks were slaughtered in west Bengal last January because of the same reason.
Bird flu was resurfaced for the first time in Asia in 2003 and since then, as per the World Health Organisation (WHO), it has killed over 240 people worldwide in a dozen of countries. Fortunately, India has not reported a single case of human death.
|
|
Comments:
