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 the authorities unprepared. Lack of trained health personnel and equipment, inadequate dissemination of public information about the virus, and the resultant local resistance to poultry culling has shown up an administration incapable of dealing with the crisis. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has called the situation alarming.

The h5n1 virus, first detected in Birbhum district, has since spread to eight more districts