CALCUTTA, India, January 19, SPA — Health workers slaughtered more poultry Saturday in a bid to curb the spread of bird flu in western India, as authorities declared the situation under control, according to a report of the Associated Press.
Officials ordered the slaughter of about 400,000 birds,mostly chickens, after birds started getting sick several days ago in West Bengal state.
Authorities confirmed the disease is bird flu but were still waiting for test results to determine whether it is the H5N1 strain of the virus, which has been blamed for the deaths of 217 people world-wide since 2003.
No human cases have been reported in India, despite two previous H5N1 outbreaks among birds. The state’s Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, said the situation in West Bengal was «worrisome» but
under control.
«There is no cause for panic,» he said Friday. He said state and federal officials were «taking all necessary measures.» Local health official S.K. Bhowmick said that health workers were going door to door in the area in search of people with fevers, but that they had not come across anyone with bird flu symptoms.
On Thursday, nearly 3,000 chickens were found dead in a previously unaffected district near the outbreak’s epicenter, sparking fears that the disease was spreading.
Officials have yet to announce whether those deaths were from bird flu.