By IANS
Kolkata : At least 10,000 backyard poultry birds in a West Bengal village died over the past 10 days but authorities were yet to confirm if the deaths were due to the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.
The birds died in Margram village of Birbhum district, about 200 km from here.
“After preliminary probe, it seems that the birds have died of bird flu, but we still don’t know whether it is the deadly H5N1 strain. That is being ascertained,” Birbhum chief medical officer Sunil Kumar Bhowmick told IANS over phone Sunday.
“The deaths occurred over the past 10 days but no human being around has fallen sick after consuming any meat,” Bhowmick said.
Tests were conducted after thousands of backyard poultry died in the district.
“We will take all action, including culling, but we are still not certain if the strain is the deadly H5N1,” he said.
The mass culling of poultry was initiated in February 2006 in Maharashtra after cases of bird flu were found among chickens there.
However, the World Health Organisation later declared India bird flu-free.