Nepal has sounded a high alert in country's eastern areas following bird flu outbreak in neighbouring districts in India. "As we are just 15 km far from virus outbreak area in India, there is high risk of transferring virus to the country,' Dr Dhan R Ratala, programme director of Livestock Training Service Centre, said. "We are trying to prevent the virus from entering our country', he added. Nepal has already banned import of poultry products from India after the bird flu virus outbreak was reported.

People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Mumbai, today linked bird flu in Tripura to unhygienic condition of chicken and egg farms. This comes at a time when the State Government has blamed Bangladesh for the spread of the H5N1 virus through unchecked poultry movement from across the border. PETA officials here said besides Tripura, they had issued general warning to every State in India early this year about filthy condition in poultry farms after conducting a random survey and cautioned that it could lead to spread of the flu virus.

Indian States bordering Bangladesh have become vulnerable to bird flu with the country continuing to be a breeding ground for the disease, officials here said on Monday. "Forty-seven of the 64 districts in Bangladesh are hit by bird flu. With the authorities failing to control the disease and no efforts at checking smuggling of poultry and poultry products, bordering Indian States are becoming vulnerable to avian influenza,' said Ashish Roy Burman, Director of Tripura's Animal Resource Development (ARD) Department.

The Tripura Government has asked the External Affairs Ministry to take up the issue of unchecked poultry movement from Bangladesh to bordering villages of Tripura, where incidents of bird flu were increasing. State Animal Resource Development Minister Aghor Debbarma here today said there were reports of poultry movement from across the border and since most of the area in Bangladesh had already been affected by the H5N1 virus, it increased the risk of flu spread.

The Darjeeling district administration has decided to start culling in the Bijanbari-Pulbazar area, where the outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed, from Sunday. District magistrate Rajesh Pandey today held a meeting with other officials to work out the logistics of the operations.

Culling of chicken which began in two blocks of Siliguri and one block of Kurseong in birdflu-affected Darjeeling district will continue for another two days, Darjeeling district magistrate Rajesh Pandey said. A total of 20,298 birds were culled in the blocks since May 10, he said. Few thousands were yet to be killed due to non-cooperation in a few villages, he said. It was decided at an emergency meeting on Wednesday that the mopping drive which began on Wednesday would also continue, officials said.

BEIJING: China's capital recorded its first death from hand, foot and mouth disease on Wednesday as the authorities tried to contain the spread of the potent virus just three months before the city hosts the Olympic Games. The illness has sickened tens of thousands of children across the country and killed at least 42 people. A child died Sunday on the way to a hospital, according to Xinhua, the official news agency, which cited a Beijing Health Bureau spokeswoman, Deng Xiaohong. The director of the health bureau's publicity office, contacted by telephone, declined to comment.

Polar bear not protected yet: The US Department of the Interior wants 10 more weeks to decide whether polar bears should be listed as endangered species. In a court filing, the department said the

In the wake of outbreak of bird flu in the neighbouring States and countries, the Nagaland Government has banned import of all poultry products in the State. The State's Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department has cautioned the public and traders alike not to bring any poultry or its products from any State, including West Bengal, Asom and even Manipur, official sources here today said.

The number of antelopes is dwindling day by day in the district, thanks to nature's fury and the laxity of authorities. Hundreds of antelopes including Chinkara, Chousinga, Spotted Deer and Sambar were living in the islands of Godavari River including Narayanalanka, Addankivarilanka, Veedhivarilanka, Kedarulanka, Sathemmalanka and Nandapallilanka.