Almost half of Bengal now bird flu affected

Cooch Behar and Hoogly were declared bird flu hit, taking the number of affected districts in West Bengal to nine.

Cooch Behar and Hoogly were on Wednesday declared bird flu hit, taking the number of affected districts in the state to nine even as authorities set a target of culling three lakh chicken daily.

Samples of chicken sent from Cooch Behar and Hooghly districts to the Highrisk Security Disease Laboratory (HSDL) in Bhopal yesterday tested positive,” Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rahaman said.

“We have been informed by the Centre. Steps will be taken accordingly,” he said.

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“Steps are being taken to officially notify both Cooch Behar and Hooghly districts bird flu affected, for the next course of action including culling,” Rahaman said.

The samples which tested positive were from Dinhata in Cooch Behar district and Balagarh in Hooghly district, he said.

There was, however, no case of humans beings being affected, the minister said.

The target of culling which was set at 20 lakh was also likely to increase, he said.

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The daily target now was three lakh with 600 teams on the job from today, he said.

About 150 technical teams from eight states, including Haryana, Assam, Maharashtra, Orissa and Jharkhand would soon join to monitor the culling.

West Bengal’s border with neighbouring states has already been sealed, the minister said.