About 80,000 chickens and ducks were culled and over Rs 20 lakh given as compensation to the affected people in Asom during the recent culling operation undertaken to avert the outbreak of avian flu in the State, especially in the districts bordering West Bengal. State Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Minister Khorsing Ingti informed the Assembly today that though no bird flu case was reported in the State, preventive culling was undertaken in Dhubri and Kokrajhar districts. In his reply to separate questions in the House, Ingti said altogether 50,640 birds were culled in Kokrajhar and 29,069 birds in Dhubri, while Rs 20,50,210 was given away as compensation

The intensity of bird flu has lessened all over the country with no major outbreak reported during the last one week, officials and poultry industry people claimed.

A country-wide campaign for the registration of poultry farms has been launched with an aim to provide maximum security against birds flu outbreak. Animal Husbandry Commissioner Dr R.H. Usmani said that according to an estimate there were about 25,800 poultry farms producing large scale as well as small scale poultry products like meat, eggs and poultry breeding. He said that the campaign was initiated in all four provinces including AJK which will collect data about the status of all farms existing at district level and he added that work on the project has been initiated from Peshawar. Dr Usmani informed that a number of Rapid Response Teams consisting three doctors with highly trained, fully equipped staffers were also increased from 18 to 23 to control any outbreak of bird flu around the country. He said that these teams will also provide proper education to farmers about safety and security measures including vaccination of birds and adoption of safety measures for workers, working inside the farms. Animal Husbandry Commissioner said this campaign will help the ministry to provide proper compensation to affect farmers registered during current practice. All those farms who failed to register itself during the campaign would not get any compensation in case of any outbreak. Copyright Associated Press of Pakistan, 2008

The United Nations has praised the "swift and comprehensive' measures taken by India to bring under control the "worst-ever' outbreak of bird flu in West Bengal, while urging the country to maintain vigilance in view of similar incidents reported in its neighbourhood. Culling The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation's veterinary expert Mohinder Oberoi said intensive culling in the predominantly backyard poultry sector of West Bengal appeared to have stopped the disease in its tracks. Mr. Oberoi made the comment after a recent field trip to the affected areas, where no new outbreaks have been reported since February 2. FAO's Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech, however, urged the country to maintain intensive surveillance in high-risk areas as the possibility of new occurrences remained high. "The virus could still be present in the environment despite heavy slaughtering and extensive disinfection of affected areas, or it could be reintroduced from other countries,' he said. Praised The officials praised the national and State governments' political and financial commitment to stamp out the disease. They said public awareness campaigns, a strong command chain from districts to villages, compensation payments and an effective collaboration between animal and human health departments at field level were the key factors for the success.

About 25,369 chickens infected with bird flu were culled and 2,372 eggs were destroyed at eight farms in three districts in the last two days. With the culling, the total number of culled chickens rose to 1084,473 while the number of destroyed eggs stands at 1,458,967 since February 2007. Bird flu control room sources said the number of affected farms will start falling rapidly as temperature begins to rise. At least 11,383 chickens were culled and 2050 eggs were destroyed at National Hatchery Pvt Ltd of Akhter Hossain Babul in Gazipur on Wednesday night, bird flu control room sources said. A total of 9,575 chickens were culled and 200 eggs were destroyed at Aqua Land Agro complex of Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan at Savar after avian influenza virus was detected at the farm. Besides, 776 chickens were also culled at another farm at Ashulia. Meanwhile, 295 bird flu infected chickens were culled and 122 eggs were destroyed at a farm in Natore on Tuesday night. Besides, about 3,340 chickens were culled at four farms in the district.

It is steadily getting worse and could easily spin out of control if it acquires a virulent form. The latest outbreak of the avian influenza sweeping West Bengal is the most serious India has ever faced

Bird flu has hit hard India's Rs 36,000-crore poultry industry, already smarting under a steep rise in essential feed prices. Although the flu is restricted to West Bengal, crashing wholesale prices

baglihar inspection: Pakistan has said that it will inspect the Baglihar dam before it becomes operational. Spokesperson of Pakistan's foreign office, Mohammad Sadiq, said on January 30 that the