Indian state West Bengal stops movement of poultry products from Assam

Movement of poultry products into West Bengal from Assam has been restricted due to reports of outbreak of bird flu in that state, West Bengal's Cooch Behar District Magistrate R.K. Sinha said.

Sinha added that the border has been sealed for the past week as far as poultry birds and products are concerned. Surveillance is being conducted in the district and there have been no reports of bird deaths so far. Cooch Behar shares a border with Assam.

The death of some poultry birds over the past two days in the English Bazaar block in West Bengal's Malda district has raised fears of an attack of avian flu in the district.

Malda's District Magistrate P.C. Sit told The Hindu newspaper over telephone on Sunday (Dec 14, 2008) that samples from the dead birds have been sent for tests to the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Kolkata.

Malda district Animal Resources Development Department said no culling operation in the aftermath of such outbreaks is foolproof.

More than 20,000 poultry birds had been culled following an outbreak of avian flu in the English Bazaar block in January-February this year.