Fresh outbreak of bird flu confirmed in eastern India
Authorities confirmed new cases of bird flu in eastern India on Sunday, a month after they slaughtered nearly four million birds in the same state to stem the country's worst ever outbreak of the disease.
By PTI |
CALCUTTA: Authorities confirmed new cases of bird flu in eastern India on Sunday, a month after they slaughtered nearly four million birds in the same state to stem the country's worst ever outbreak of the disease.
State workers were preparing to kill birds that may have been infected in villages in West Bengal, officials said.
Roughly 900 birds have died of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus over the past week in two villages where bird flu was previously confirmed, said local official Subir Bhadra. The villages are 300 kilometers (185 miles) from the crowded state capital of Calcutta.
Bird flu broke out in West Bengal in January, prompting a campaign to stem the disease in rural areas across the state. After killing nearly 4 million birds through spates of bad weather and bureaucratic tangles, state officials lifted a ban on the sale of poultry in most affected areas in early February.
Officials did not say whether they would reinstate the ban given the fresh outbreak.
No humans in India are known to have caught the disease, which has killed at least 235 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Although it remains difficult for humans to catch, experts fear it may mutate into a new form that spreads easily among people, potentially sparking a pandemic.
State workers were preparing to kill birds that may have been infected in villages in West Bengal, officials said.
Roughly 900 birds have died of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus over the past week in two villages where bird flu was previously confirmed, said local official Subir Bhadra. The villages are 300 kilometers (185 miles) from the crowded state capital of Calcutta.
Bird flu broke out in West Bengal in January, prompting a campaign to stem the disease in rural areas across the state. After killing nearly 4 million birds through spates of bad weather and bureaucratic tangles, state officials lifted a ban on the sale of poultry in most affected areas in early February.
Officials did not say whether they would reinstate the ban given the fresh outbreak.
No humans in India are known to have caught the disease, which has killed at least 235 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Although it remains difficult for humans to catch, experts fear it may mutate into a new form that spreads easily among people, potentially sparking a pandemic.
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