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Last Sunday, headlines in The Statesman were screaming about a `panic' in the Cooch Behar district of West Bengal over the sudden deaths of thousands of fowl.
These poultry deaths had been ongoing for at least 5 days, according to that report.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Bird flu panic in Cooch Behar
Bird flu panic in Cooch Behar
COOCH BEHAR, Jan. 25: The villagers of Uttar Dangkoba under Pachagarh gram panchayat in Mathabhanga sub-division are grappling with a bird flu panic in the wake of birds’ deaths in thousands over the last five days. The Pachagarh gram panchayat pradhan, Mr Kajal Roy, has drawn the attention of the higher authorities to the suspected renewed advent of the Avian Flu in the district.
Asked to comment, the deputy director of the animal resource development department in Cooch Behar, Dr Tapan Kumar Roy, today, said that they had already collected blood samples from the affected Uttar Dangkoba area for examination.
Cooch Behar, West Bengal
Six days later, laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of the H5N1 virus, and culling is expected to begin on Monday - nearly 2-weeks after the first poultry deaths occurred.
Bird flu in WB's Cooch Behar district
Cooch Behar (WB), Jan 31 West Bengal&aposs Cooch Behar district was today declared bird flu-affected with authorities directed to cull 45,000 birds, official sources said.
Blood samples sent from Nagar Bhangni and Uttar Dangkoba villages, where a large number of chickens suddenly died tested positive for the H5N1 virus at laboratories in Kolkata and Bhopal, District Magistrate Rajesh Kumar Sinha said.
Sinha said culling would begin from Monday at Nagar Bhangni village under Dinhata-II block and Uttar Dangkoba village under Pachagarh gram panchayat in Mathabhanga sub-division.
Thirty culling teams comprising five members each would destroy 45,000 chickens, he said.
The border has been sealed and trading and transport of chicken from the affected areas prohibited.
The BSF on the Indo-Bangladesh border have been alerted to prevent birds from being smuggled out, he said.
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