H5N1 Spread to Nadia West Bengal?
Recombinomics Commentary 09:34
January 17, 2008
Avian Flu has spread to new areas even as culling of chickens in Birbhum proved an uphill task.
The new areas declared affected include Muraroi Block 1 and Muraroi Block 2 and Rampurhat Municipality of Birbhum and four gram panchayat areas — Kadamkandi, Parulia, Jhilli and Kirtipur of Khargram in Murshidabad.
The possibility seems strong since at least 5,000 chickens have died of an unknown disease and villagers of Srirampur, Pratapnagar, Jannagar, Kanainagar, Kanchantala, Rajapur and Uttar Tazpur under the Tehatta-I block and Burnia under Tehatta-II block are panicking as the affected chickens had not responded to the medication.
Mrs Saraswati Biswas, panchayat pradhan of Kanainagar gram panchayat, said: “At least 5,000 chickens have died of an unknown disease at several villages in the panchayat during the last 15 days. The first symptoms were detected when the birds looked drowsy. They died within 48 hours.
Hundreds of villagers from Uttar Tazpur, Pratapnagar and Rajapur had the same experience.
The above comments indicate H5N1 has spread in Birbhum, and may also be spreading in Nadia (see satellite map). The new areas in Birbhum are in the north, and closer to the Bangladesh boarder.
The bird deaths in Nadia are adjacent to the Bangladesh border. Although some officials have said the poultry deaths are due to Newcastle Disease, the close proximity to Birbhum and the Bangladesh border, and lack of response to Newcastle Disease treatment, raise concerns that H5N1 has spread south in West Bengal.
Reports of Newcastle Disease frequently precede announcements of H5N1 infections. More detail on testing of birds in this region, as well as additional regions to the south, would be useful.
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