Migratory Birds Complicate H5N1 Containment in West Bengal
Recombinomics Commentary 13:59
January 25, 2008
Many migratory birds are dying in lakes and bils of Bengal’s bird flu-hit areas. But neither the state animal resources department (ARD) nor the forest officials had any clue about steps that need to be taken.
collected blood samples of migratory birds from Cooch Behar
Meanwhile, ARD authorities heaved a sigh of relief as the post-mortem report of the bird recovered at Santragachhi revealed it died of pneumonia.
The above comments describe dead wild birds in West Bengal (see satellite map). Ten dead wild birds were found in Cooch Behar, where over half of the blocks now have excessive poultry deaths. Similarly, the teal in Santragacchi died of pneumonia, a symptom of H5N1 infections. Results from 41 home-grown chickens found dead in Howrah's Nalpur village, have come back H5 positive. Nalpur village is in Sankaril block of the Howra district, a few miles from the location of dead teals, suggesting that the dead teal with pneumonia was H5N1 infected.
In addition to migratory birds, large numbers of dead domestic birds, including crows, pigeons, owls, and hawks have been found in near proximity to dead H5N1 confirmed poultry.
These wild bird infections will complicate control efforts, which have focused on border checks around Calcutta as well as West Bengal. Excessive poultry deaths in neighboring districts and countries indicate H5N1 has already spread beyond the West Bengal borders.
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