Bird flu strikes Bengal anew

A fresh outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu) has again occurred in West Bengal.

About 20 backyard poultry birds were reported to have died on May 20 in the rural areas of Uttar Dinajpur in West Bengal, not far from the Assam and Bangladesh border.

These birds were confirmed on May 25 to be positive of the most virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu based on the samples taken by the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal and the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

No vaccination or treatment of the affected birds has been resorted to, however, as part of the government's strategy to tackle bird flu.

The latest eruption of bird flu has occurred around six months after the last outbreak of this disease in Hajo, Rajabazar and Kamrup areas of Assam. About 325 birds had died of H5N1 infection at the time. Besides, over 52,000 birds in a 3- kilometre area around these spots were culled.

The first outbreak of bird flu in India had occurred in Navapur and Uchchal around the Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh border in February 2006. Since then, there have been several outbreaks in different parts of the country, causing huge economic losses, reckoned to be in excess of Rs 10,000 crore, to the poultry industry. The organised poultry industry is currently believed to be worth over Rs 30,000 crores.

Following successful containment of the disease in the epicentres of infection between 2006 and 2008, India had formally declared itself bird flu-free country on November 4, 2008. But this status did not last long. Barely 3 weeks later, the disease resurfaced in the Kamrup(rural) district of Assam.