Culling will resume in the bird flu-hit areas of Malda tomorrow, two days after the government announced the job was over.
Animal resource development director Kamala Kanta Saha, who was here today to see how well the job had been done, saw chickens hopping around, instead.
At least four culling personnel were taken ill during culling and mopping operations in Malda last evening. One of them Mohd Ellius was admitted to the isolation ward for observation. According to the Malda CMOH, Dr Srikanta Roy, Mohd Ellius was suffering from abdominal pain.
Dec. 19: Reports of more chicken deaths from Gajole block reached the authorities in Malda town today when they were planning to wrap up the culling operation in bird flu-hit Narhatta.
The Malda district administration has been told to start culling chickens in Englishbazar block after reports confirmed the presence of the avian flu virus in dead birds, samples of which had been sent to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal.
Bird Flu has hit the state again. This time, it has come back to Malda. Samples of dead birds collected from Malda sent to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal yesterday have tested H5N1 positive. The Centre today apprised the state animal resources development department (ARD) of the test results this evening.
Over 500 chickens have died since yesterday morning in Budhia village of Malda, even as the district administration has sent blood samples of dead birds to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal for tests.
SURI: Health authorities and animal resources development (ARD) department officials in Birbhum are dreading another bird flu outbreak in the district after abnormal poultry bird deaths were reported from neighbouring Malda district.
Has the state learnt any lesson from the previous bird flu outbreak that was termed worst ever in the country? Well, apparently the answer seems a big No.
