April 3, 2008

Newcastle disease suspected of killing fowls in India
 

About 3,000 fowls have died from a mysterious illness, which is suspected to be Newcastle disease, in the past one week in India's northeastern state Tripura, according to officials on Wednesday.

Villagers have reported the deaths of more than 3,000 fowls, comprising of chickens, ducks, crows and other birds. They had first fallen sick before dying at the town of Kamalpur, according to the villagers.

The animal resource development department (ARDD) quickly dispatched a team of doctors to collect blood samples of the dead birds.

Several dogs and jackals that had fed on the dead birds were also found dead, said the villagers.

Ashim Burman, director of ARDD, said they do not think the deaths are due to bird flu but that they suspect Newcastle disease as the killer. However, they would wait for the national laboratories to test the collected blood samples and confirm the suspicions, he said.

A previous detection of the H5N1 virus in chickens in poultry farms at Bangladeshi district Moulabibazar, which was just adjacent to Kamalpur, had the Tripura government taking precautionary measures such as the sealing of borders to stop poultry transportation between the two countries.

The maintenance of a strict watch of the Indo-Bangla border has been urged to prevent illegal trade of poultry and poultry products from Bangladesh, said Burman.

Officials from the state forest department have also been told to keep an eye on Tripura's ten largewater bodies where migratory birds are currently breeding.