India Now Reporting `Bird Flu', Type Unspecified

 

# 1011

 

 

While still not confirming the type of `avian influenza', the announcement has been made that some form of `bird flu' has been detected in India.     This comes more than a week after the first reports of dead and dying poultry reached the papers. 

 

 

 

India reports new outbreak of bird flu in chickens

 

Wed Jul 25, 2007 1:49PM ISTNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India declared a fresh outbreak of avian influenza among poultry, the first this year, but a senior official said on Wednesday authorities were yet to confirm if it was the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain.

 

"We have avian influenza," Upma Chawdhry, joint secretary of the Union Animal Husbandry Department, told Reuters.

 

The outbreak was located in a small farm in Manipur where 133 chickens out of 144 suddenly died this month, Chawdhry said.

 

"The state government has been informed and asked to start the control and containment operations," she said.

 

 

 

It should be noted that for the past few days India has been holding emergency meetings, setting up response teams, hospital isolation wards, and handing out Tamiflu to those exposed to the dead chickens.   

 

The wheels have been in motion even if there has been no public announcement.

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