Bid to contain fresh bird flu outbreak in India

New Delhi: Only a month after authorities declared bird flu was under control in eastern India, veterinary workers began culling thousands of chickens on Monday to contain a fresh outbreak in poultry.

At least 50,000 chickens and ducks will be slaughtered in the next few days, a senior official said.

The outbreak was reported from West Bengal's Murshidabad district where 900 chickens and ducks died over the last two weeks.

In January, the H5N1 virus had hit 13 of the state's 19 districts, including Murshidabad, bringing down poultry sales by more than 70 per cent in the state.

Authorities then culled more than 3.4 million birds in the state after the World Health Organisation described January's outbreak as the worst-ever in India.

Officials now say bird flu among poultry could have spread to new areas.

"We do not know how many chickens and ducks escaped during the earlier exercise, but we are now trying our best to find them," Anisur Rahaman, the state's animal resources minister told.

Bird deaths were also reported from neighbouring Birbhum district, the epicentre of the original outbreak in January.

"We don't think it is bird flu, but we are collecting samples from Birbhum for testing," Rahaman said.

The minister said smuggled poultry from bird-flu hit Bangladesh could have triggered the latest outbreak.

In India's bordering district of Murshidabad, over 350 veterinary workers were catching poultry on Monday from homes and slaughtering them by wringing their necks.

There have been no reported human cases of the bird flu.

Experts fear the H5N1 strain could one day mutate into a form easily transmitted from person to person, leading to a pandemic that could kill millions worldwide.