Commentary
Poultry Deaths In West Bengal India Raise H5N1 Concerns
Recombinomics Commentary 13:00
December 20, 2008
death of 600 chickens over the past four days was reported in Ledason near Onda PS in Bankura district.
The head of the ARD team that visited Ledason this morning, Mr Modak, said: “The symptoms may have some resemblance to Bird Flu."
unusual mortality of poultry birds have been reported from Birbhum's Rampurhat I and Bolpur blocks.
In Dokhalbati village nearly 50 chickens died. Thirteen died in Naryanpur and 25 in Bolpur Kopai village.
untimely death of 56 new-born chicks at Khongram under Murshidabad district during the past two days
The above comments describe recent unnatural bird deaths in three West Bengal districts, Bankura, Birbhum, and Murshidabad (see updated map). Although the deaths in Mushidabad are said to be from “another disease” and the Birbhum deaths “do not resemble bird flu”, the deaths in Bankura do resemble bird flu, and H5N1 has been confirmed in multiple locations in Malda, as well as Bandgladesh and Assam (see map overview).
In Assam, H5N1 has been confirmed in crows dying in Guwahati and dead wild birds have been noted in Karbi Anglong and Nagaland. Similarly, hundreds of dead crows have been reported in Malda.
Moreover, almost exactly one year ago poultry began dying in Birbhum (see 2008 map). These deaths were not H5N1 confirmed until January 15, 2008, but by then H5N1 had spread to multiple West Bengal districts, leading to extensive culling throughout the winter. Record levels of H5N1 were confirmed in West Bengal and Bangladesh, and the rapid spread in Assam this month raises concern that wild birds will spread the H5N1 to multiple regions in West Bengal.
Therefore, these excessive poultry deaths are likely signals of such movement.
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