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| Bird flu outbreak nears Calcutta |
| The bird flu epidemic in the Indian state of West Bengal has inched closer to the capital, Calcutta, with an outbreak reported close to the city.
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| INDIA
, 24-January-2008
1:45:57 AM |
| Tests on dead birds from Dinhata, less than a two-hour drive from Calcutta, have tested positive for the disease.
Nine of the state's 19 districts have been already hit by the flu. Officials say more than 2m birds would be culled.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu is regarded as highly pathogenic and can also cause disease and death in humans.
Health experts have warned that the outbreak could get out of control.
No cases of human infection have still been reported though a member of the culling team has been admitted to hospital with respiratory disorder and fever.
State animal husbandry minister Anisur Rehman said the government had a "long way to go" in culling the targeted two million birds.
Only a third of the target has been achieved - barely 700,000 birds have been culled in the last 10 days.
"More culling teams are needed in all the affected districts but these are things that cannot be hurried. The men in the culling teams have to be quarantined first before they can be asked to start the operations," Mr Rehman said.
Pace warning
In most of the districts , the villagers were resisting culling of their backyard poultry.
"Poultry is a major source of income for the poor villagers. It is not unusual for them to resist culling. So we have to persuade them rather than force them," said Manasa Hansda, a senior official of Birbhum, one of the worst-hit districts said.
The problem is made worse because many poor and illiterate farmers are sometimes misinformed about basic hygiene.
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