Nearly a month after four million birds culled, a fresh outbreak of avian influenza hit West Bengal's Murshidabad district early last month. The reappearance of the virus (see

Breeders yesterday said retail prices of poultry will go up further unless farmers now move to restart farming at an increased pace. The warning came amid a slow recovery in the demand for poultry following the decline in bird flu spread. But many farmers remain reluctant in resuming farming with bird flu still haunting them.

More than 12,000 eggs, 42.5 kg of dressed chicken, three live birds and 61 feather brooms were seized and destroyed by Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority (BAFRA) since the ban on the import of poultry and related products from India was imposed on January 16 this year. All the seizures were done at the Phuentsholing border gate, which is a main entry point for trade with India. BAFRA officials also imposed fines totalling Nu 30,000.

Tripura Animal Resource Development Department (ARDD) has sent the first consignment of blood and dead bird samples to Belgachhia testing laboratory in Kolkata today following sudden death of about 3,

Punjab Livestock Secretary Babur Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad has called for developing human resources in the livestock sector to enhance productivity.

The Bangladesh Bank has asked the scheduled banks to suspend recovery of principal loan amount for one year and interest for six months from the poultry sector.

Experts at a seminar yesterday said bird flu is a national crisis but we can tackle it by taking preventive measures. They said cooked chicken and boiled eggs are safe to eat.