West Bengal chicken deaths spark bird flu alert

ALARM BELLS: Death of thousands of chickens in West Bengal's Birbhum region sparks off bird flue alert.

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New Delhi: With the authorities declaring a bird flu alert in two blocks of West Bengal's Birbhum district, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases has sent a team to the areas to get a preliminary report and collect samples.

"A two-member team comprising the Deputy Director and Joint Director, NICD, have been sent to the districts to ascertain the facts about the reported outbreak," NICD Director Shiv Lal said.

He, however, said there was no confirmation for the outbreak and the Animal Husbandry department had not given the NICD anything in written.

The team will meet the state surveillance officers and the rapid response teams and collect samples, a senior NICD official said.

The death of thousands of home-bred chickens in Birbhum region over the past one week has prompted district authorities in the region to sound a bird flu alert.

Though neither the district administration nor the veterinary department of the state confirmed an outbreak of birdflu, a preliminary report from the High Security Animal Husbandry Laboratory in Bhopal has apparently confirmed the disease affecting poultry there, officials in the state said.