WB bird flu outbreak coming under control: UN

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Reuters

Posted online: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 07:30:29
Updated: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 07:47:25

Jakarta, January 30: An outbreak of bird flu in poultry in West Bengal is ‘coming under control’, but authorities still need to break the chain of transmission of the H5N1 virus, the United Nations influenza coordinator said in an interview.

"I would say that it is coming under control," David Nabarro told Reuters, "And the final test of whether it's under control would be whether or not authorities are able to really dampen down the new outbreaks of H5N1 particularly in West Bengal."

Bird flu has spread to 13 of 19 districts in West Bengal in the fourth outbreak of the H5N1 strain since 2006, with samples of dead chickens testing positive in two new districts, officials said on Monday.

In neighbouring Bangladesh, the disease has spread to 29 of its 64 districts since March last year despite mass-culling of poultry.

"What the authorities need to try to avoid is the continuous transmission of the H5N1 virus so you almost stop noticing the outbreaks," Nabarro said, sitting in his suite in a five-star hotel in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.

The public health expert is on a four-day visit in the Southeast Asian nation, where he meets ministers and experts to review Indonesia's efforts to stamp out disease.

Nabarro said a major problem is that most poultry in West Bengal and Bangladesh are raised in backyards and farmers have been reluctant to cull their birds in the fear of losing a vital source of income and nutrition.

"In both the Bangladesh and the West Bengal situation the key dilemma that government faces is on the one hand wanting to get the virus under control and to reduce infections," Nabarro said.

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Comments - 2

Bengal thinks of 5th Century by Dr. Ramesh on 31 Jan 2008

There was a time of "what Bengal thinks today, rest of India thinks tomorrow". Now, under these destructive communists, what rest of the India thinks of today and tomorrow, Bengal thinks of 5th Century.

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WB Bird Flu by Dr.M.S.Sivaraman on 30 Jan 2008

Communists welcome U.S. help to control the epidemic quickly to prevent the virus from developing more virulence.Ideological hate must be kept aside!

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