By IANS
Kolkata : West Bengal would complete the culling of 2.8 million poultry birds by Saturday even as laboratory tests confirmed that bird flu has spread to new blocks of some affected districts.
“We have culled about 2.55 million birds by Wednesday. We hope to complete the rest in two more days,” West Bengal Animal Resource Development Minister Anisur Rahman said Thursday.
He said all poultry and egg sellers would be compensated for the loss and each family losing chickens and ducks either to culling or deaths from the virus would be given Rs.500.
State Health Minister Surya Kanta Mishra said while no human was found infected by the virus after laboratory tests of 18 samples, about 1.8 million people in the affected regions are under the scanner for any infection.
“We are quarantining the cullers for a certain time and administering them Tamiflu,” Mishra said.
Earlier, reports from the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal said samples from Suri I in Birbhum, Raghunathganj II in Murshidabad and Chanditala II in Hooghly had tested positive for avian influenza.
Hooghly District Magistrate Vinod Kumar confirmed the outbreak at Hutpur village of the district, barely 20 km from Kolkata. The metropolis is now hemmed in by areas affected by bird flu.
The HSADL was yet to confirm the report of bird flu spreading to Baduria in Kolkata’s adjoining North 24-Parganas district but the state government has already said the deadly H5N1 strain has been found in the samples taken from there.
Officials in New Delhi said that among the 1.6 million people surveyed, teams of healthcare personnel have detected 3,700 people with signs of upper respiratory infection such as cold, cough and fever. Only 28 of them have had a history of exposure to poultry.
However, none of these people had symptoms of avian influenza like lung infection, breathlessness or lung patches visible on X-ray.
But reports of untoward incidents poured in from various parts of the state.
Villagers of Bajitpur, Parchandrahat and Chattaparulia in Birbhum’s Mayureswar-I block, which is affected by bird flu, reportedly exhumed culled poultry birds Monday and went to the local panchayat office with the birds demanding interim relief of Rs.500 for each family as announced by the state government.
Reports said the villagers brought the culled birds to prove that they are among the affected families. The culled birds were again buried in the trenches at the intervention of the police, who issued a stern warning Wednesday that anyone found exhuming dead birds would be arrested.
Bird flu was confirmed in West Bengal Jan 15. The affected districts are South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Birbhum, South Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Nadia, Burdwan, Bankura, Malda, Cooch Behar, Purulia and West Midnapore.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has described the West Bengal situation as “serious”.
In neighbouring Bangladesh, which shares a long border with West Bengal, bird flu has affected 29 out of 64 districts in the country. Bangladesh authorities declared the outbreak Jan 3.