Poultry Banned in West Bengal Indefinitely
Recombinomics Commentary 22:07
February 5, 2008
State’s Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rehman said, “The sale, purchase and movement of chicken, ducks and eggs are banned indefinitely.
Defending the ban, government sources said the flu has certainly spread to other districts. It is a matter of time an alert is sounded in these districts as samples from here have already been sent to Bhopal for testing.
The above comments describe an indefinite ban on poultry in West Bengal, India. The spread of H5N1 throughout the entire district has been acknowledged, although delayed testing has precluded confirmation.
This spread is not surprising. H5N1 had been reported in 13 of the 19 districts, even though testing had been minimal. Moreover, culling around confirmed sites overlapped parts of districts which did not have confirmed outbreaks, so culling has been ongoing in almost all districts prior to the announcement (see satellite maps here and here).
Similarly, the culling in adjacent regions also reflects likely movement of H5N1 into those regions, even though H5N1 has not been confirmed. Dead resident wild birds would move H5N1 into adjacent regions, while migratory birds would move H5N1 into wider regions, including Uttar Pradesh.
The ban acknowledges that H5N1 remains out of control in India and adjacent countries.
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