India faces bird flu 'disaster'
Pastor Dale Morgan
India faces bird flu 'disaster'*
By Sailendra Sil in Kolkata
January 22, 2008 08:12pm
Article from: Agence France-Presse
INDIA'S worst ever outbreak of the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu
could turn into a disaster, an official warned, as five people were
reportedly quarantined with symptoms of the virus.
Eight districts in the eastern state of West Bengal have been hit by the
virus, with dead birds being sold to locals who are said to be
"feasting" on cheap chicken.
The state's animal resources minister, Anisur Rahaman, said authorities
were "determined to cull all poultry in the districts in three or four
days, otherwise the state will face a disaster".
More than 100,000 bird deaths have been reported, and teams are racing
to cull two million chickens and ducks.
The Times of India reported five people in West Bengal have been
quarantined with "clinical symptoms" of avian flu - including fever,
coughing, sore throats and muscle aches - after handling affected poultry.
If the tests are positive for H5N1, this will be the first case of human
infection in India, home to 1.1 billion people and hit by bird flu among
poultry three times since 2006.
Health officials in New Delhi said they were currently analysing blood
samples from close to 150 people who have complained of fever.
On the ground, culling teams have been facing an uphill battle with
villagers smuggling birds out of flu affected areas and selling them in
open markets.
Thirty-year-old Sheikh Ali, a vendor in Birbhum's Gharisa market, 340km
from the state capital Kolkata, said the sale of poultry had doubled in
the past week, as prices plunged.
"Poor villagers are feasting on chicken. At normal times, they cannot
afford to buy as prices are so high. Now they are enjoying the meat," Mr
Ali said.
People typically catch the disease by coming into direct contact with
infected poultry, but experts fear a flu pandemic if the H5N1 mutates
into a form easily transmissible between humans.
Migratory birds have been largely blamed for the global spread of the
disease, which has killed more than 200 people worldwide since 2003.
In Birbhum, police seized two trucks of smuggled poultry early today but
culling teams were yet to arrive at the spot.
"Poultry owners are smuggling their birds out at night and transporting
it to different places for fear of culling," said Shubhendu Mahato, a
security guard at Arambagh Hatchery, one of the biggest in West Bengal.
Chicken shops had also sprung up along the main highways overnight with
people crowding them.
Neighbouring Nepal, which has banned poultry imports from India since
2006, said its border posts were on high alert.
Bangladesh, which also borders West Bengal, was meanwhile battling its
own serious outbreak - with experts warning the situation was far worse
than the government was letting on.
"Bird flu is now everywhere. Every day we have reports of birds dying in
farms," said leading poultry expert and the treasurer of Bangladesh
Poultry Association MM Khan.
"Things are now very, very serious and public health is under danger.
"The government is trying to suppress the whole scenario,'' Mr Khan
said, adding that farmers were also holding back from reporting cases.