Human infections of bird flu have been entirely avian in origin and reflect strains circulating locally among poultry and wild birds.

A pull of the neck and then a twist is all that is needed to bring silent death to a hen or a duck. In scientific terms, the bird

It is ironical that bird flu should deal a crippling blow to the West Bengal countryside shortly after the Government of India declared that the country was free from the scourge.

Bengal bird flu outbreak shows up state, central health system on january 15, the union government confirmed a bird flu outbreak in West Bengal. The worst India has ever seen, the outbreak caught

KRISHNAGAR, Feb 13: A team of invigilators consisting of two members from Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) visited the Krishnagar-I block today, to review the preventive measures taken by the district administration in view of the resent outbreak of Avian Influenza. Dr Mahendra Singh Oberoy, from Kathmandu, Nepal and Dr Subhash Morzaria from Bangkok, Thailand are the two members of FAO, the UN body that concentrates on trans-boundary animal diseases. The current focus of the organisation is on Avian Influenza.

Krishnagar, Feb. 12: Thousands of families in the bird flu-hit blocks of Nadia run the risk of not getting the Rs 500 the government has promised as they had not reported the death of their backyard chickens. Tahamina Bibi had lost 15 chickens a fortnight before the flu was confirmed in Tehatta on January 19. She ate some and threw the rest in a field. The resident of Kanainagar, about 160km from Calcutta, is not sure if she would get the money as it will be difficult for her to prove the deaths.

Had your cereals? Krishnagar, Feb. 12: Two poultry owners starved nearly 1,500 birds to death in Ranaghat, Nadia, because they could not afford to feed and not sell them. The ban on sale and purchase of poultry birds was in force in Nadia from January 20. The district administration today confirmed that the chickens of Swapan Biswas and Ashish Sikdar of Panikhali village, about 70km from Calcutta, had died not of avian influenza but starvation.

KOLKATA, Feb. 11: Experts from Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) today visited bird flu-affected areas of the state ahead of the review meeting to be held by the state government to discuss lifting the ban on chicken trading and transportation.

Massive outbreak of bird flu in the neighbouring state of West Bengal has sent alarm bells ringing in Assam. As epidemics know no geographical barriers, adequate precautionary steps are the only way to combat it. To keep the dreaded bird flu at bay, the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department of the State has undertaken a slew of measures. The steps include ban on import of poultry products and free poultry zone in the two border districts of Dhubri and Kokrajhar. The move to create a free-poultry zone has resulted in mass bird culling operation in the two border districts.