Commentary
H5N1
Spread In Malda West Bengal
Recombinomics Commentary
13:11
December 14, 2008
Bishan Chowdhury, the pradhan of Narhatta gram panchayat, said: “The chickens first get stricken with drowsiness and then die suddenly. We have brought it to the notice of the animal resources department. This incident has been going on for the past one week or so.”
Villagers complained that there was no one to remove the dead chickens.
“Children can be seen playing with them Dogs feast on them and the remains dirty the place,” one of them said.
"After receiving reports of chicken deaths from Satgharia, an animal resources development team was sent there. They collected samples from both dead and live chickens. We'll send the samples to Bhopal for confirmation," he added. No culling will commence before bird flu is confirmed, the ADM said.
Later, similar deaths began to be reported from other villages also."
The above comments describe the likely spread of H5N1 in Malda, West Bengal. Additional detail is provided for initial reports, followed by a response indicating samples will be collected for testing. Moreover, additional outbreaks in the area are reported (see 2009 map).
Malda had an early H5N1 last season, confirmed in late January (see 2008 map). Like this year, initial poultry deaths were not reported, which appear to have begun in December, 2007, but the first confirmation was in mid-January. Villagers were eating the dead chickens and wild birds in the region were also dying. Culling was delayed until H5N1 was confirmed. Eventually, birds were culled if excessive bird deaths were noted and the culling extended into adjacent states, including Assam and Meglahaya.
This season poultry deaths were reported in November, and culling has been extended to regions with unnatural poultry deaths, as well as border regions in Meglahaya.
However, the delays in culling lead to a rapid expansion locally because the dead birds are not properly destroyed, and the H5N1 spreads to dogs, jackals, and wild birds.
The deaths in Malda are close to a confirmed outbreak across the border in Naogaon, Bangladesh, and more outbreaks are expected in Bangladesh, West Bengal, Assam, Meglahaya, and adjacent areas as the temperature begins to drop, leading to more efficient transmission of H5N1.
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