Bird Flu Spread Leads To Calls To Seal India-Bangladesh Border

If such action is taken, this will be the biggest, and most costly, border closure due to the spread of the H5N1 virus so far.

As deadly as the virus has proven to be in poultry populations, dealing with outbreaks is proving to be an extremely costly business for governments. Sealing borders will only be done when the potential financial losses from likely outbreaks are shown to vastly outweigh the monstrous losses and costs that would result from closing the border between India and Bangladesh.

From NDTV :

''Unless the border is sealed, it is not possible to control the spread of the virus and it is hard to believe that there is no movement across the border. The border is too porous,'' said Mrinmoy Burman, assistant director of Animal Resource Development Department.

''The areas affected are all bordering Bangladesh. If Bangladesh doesn't take this up immediately, it will affect us very badly. There is fear psychosis now,'' said D C Das, SDM Sadar, Agartala.

India : Dozens Isolated With Bird Flu Symptoms, Hundreds More Being Monitored

With cullers and health care workers in India sent into numerous 'hot zones' in the past two weeks to deal with bird flu outbreaks, and with many lacking even the most basic safety equipment (face masks, gloves) it was inevitable that some would end up catching the virus.

Indian authorities may be, and hopefully are, exercising extreme caution now, but holding dozens of people under quarantine, and monitoring hundreds more, you would expect that India will be announcing a number of human bird flu deaths in the coming days.

From Reuters :

India has put 26 people in isolation with bird flu symptoms and hundreds more people are being monitored, officials said on Friday as Pakistan and Thailand reported outbreaks of bird flu in poultry.

India is battling its worst outbreak of avian influenza, which has spread to 13 of West Bengal's 19 districts. The densely populated state is adjacent to Bangladesh, itself trying to control a major outbreak of bird flu, and has millions of backyard fowl.

This photo shows the extent of the problems regarding lack of information and education. These children are standing only a few feet back from where suited up workers are dealing with possibly H5N1 infected poultry :




More from the Reuters story :

In West Bengal, veterinary staff have culled 2.6 million birds, completing what officials said was a successful operation that had brought the bird flu situation under control.

The focus now is on hundreds of medical and veterinary workers and villagers who had come into close contact with dead or sick birds. Officials said health staff returning home after the culling operation had been asked to get themselves checked.

Dozens of isolation wards had been created in hospitals in the affected districts to handle any sudden rush of suspected human cases.

Health experts also worry about the situation in Bangladesh, a crowded country of 140 million people where bird flu has spread to nearly half of the country's 64 districts.

Livestock officials said bird flu was still spreading and had resurfaced in the Feni district southeast of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka. The government has ordered culling of all chickens and ducks in one kilometre radius around affected farms.

The virus is threatening the livelihoods of millions of people reliant on the country's poultry industry and driving up food prices.

"Now we are facing a critical situation, as bird flu struck at a time when commodity prices from rice, flour to milk powder and edible oil had already nearly doubled," said Shahedul Alam, a government employee.

Egg exports from the world's second largest producer have dropped about 50 percent in the past two weeks, leaving the industry with losses of around $20 million, trade officials said.

India is now ground zero for a widespread human bird flu outbreak, or pandemic. How India deals with this crisis, and winds back the spread of the virus to more than 75% of the country, and whether or not such widespread exposure to the virus will result in many human victims, will tell us a lot about how serious bird flu may become in 2008, and how effectively current control measures and guidelines are for dealing with outbreaks.

India's Fight Against Bird Flu Likened To Going To War

The spread of bird flu through West Bengal has been fast and overwhelming. The truth about what is going on over there is murky, at best. But there are numerous incredible stories coming out of the region. Police are raiding homes to seize birds that owners refused to give up. Poultry believed to be infected with the virus has been eaten at festivals. Roadside store sales of eggs and poultry are booming. There is a general view that the bird flu virus as not as dangerous as international agencies claim it to be. India's borders are now being closed in an attempt to contain the spread. All bad news.

From AFP :

India's West Bengal state has since Monday been slaughtering chickens on a "war footing" as bird flu spread to new areas of the highly-populated province of 80 million people. The disease has now been found in 13 of 19 districts in the eastern state, prompting fears it may reach local capital Kolkata which has a population of 13.5 million people.

The local government said it could revise the target number of birds to be culled up to three million, of some 20 million fowl counted in the state.

"We are worried the H5N1 virus was confirmed in samples from villages just 22 kilometres from Kolkata," West Bengal animal resources development minister Anisur Rahaman said.

"If it is required, culling teams will work throughout the night."
More than 1.5 million birds have been culled since the outbreak was reported a fortnight ago.

New Delhi on Monday tried to calm nerves while the price of poultry products dropped in West Bengal and in some of India's 28 other states, including New Delhi.

950 government-appointed culling teams were working round the clock in West Bengal, where a fourth of its population is in the zone of possible infection.

Two states hemming West Bengal sealed their borders with the stricken districts after TV networks in separate reports said the Marxist-ruled province bordering Bangladesh was yet to offer an adequate response to the crisis.

In New Delhi, butcheries reported a steep fall in poultry sales, with some establishments warning businesses would take a hit if the situation in West Bengal was not brought under control.

West Bengal authorities raided backyard traders at night to avoid resistance from locals who, fearing financial loss, would try to hide the birds or lock up their houses to prevent the chickens from being culled.

Poultry owners say they have been devastated by the mass cull, with the government paying only about 40 rupees (one dollar) for each dead chicken, compared with the 80 rupees they could earn on the market, excluding egg sales.

Bird Flu Panic Grips Multiple Countries As Virus Spread : More Deaths, Infections, Massive Poultry Culls

A round-up of recent headlines from WDIM :

Vietnam confirms 48th fatal bird flu case

Indonesian man dies of bird flu, toll up to 98

Indonesia confirms 120th human bird flu infection

Experts probe high bird flu mortality rate in Indonesia

Bird flu outbreak threatens India

Rain forces culling halt as India battles worst bird flu outbreak

Thailand confirms new bird flu outbreak

Turkey culls poultry to stop spread of bird flu

India risks bird flu 'disaster', human cases feared as 5 quarantined with symptoms

West Bengal appeals over bird flu for help in culling up to 2 million chickens

Chicken feast in India despite bird flu disaster warning

Three Indonesian children hospitalized with bird flu symptoms

Bird flu spotted in poultry in northern Turkey

West Bengal : Bird Flu Now In Six Districts, Locals Resist Poultry Culls

H5N1 Poultry Caught, Collected With Bare Hands

Government Goes Into Panic Mode As Virus Spreads Rapidly




The outbreak of H5N1 in West Bengal has shown just how quickly the virus can spread, and how unprepared some governments are to deal with such sudden outbreaks.

By all reports, the government of West Bengal is in chaos as H5N1 spreads through dozens of poultry farms and at least six districts. Poultry culls will see more than half a million birds killed within the week, and there are huge problems in getting small farmers to hand over poultry that is not yet sick, as compensation packages are not ready and are not being distributed widely enough.

Although the WB government claims there are no human infections, it would be remarkable if there were none, considering some of the emergency poultry culling is being done with bare hands due to a lack of equipment and proper preparation of workers.

Scary stuff :

....officials say time is of essence in containing the outbreak in Bengal, where the virus seems to be spreading very fast and infecting thousands of birds everyday. A trend that also puts human health at grave risk.

Agriculture and food minister Sharad Pawar said on Saturday that "preventive and prophylactic culling" would only be launched in areas which report high and unusual mortality of poultry.

"In such a situation, we won't wait for the confirmation of bird flu. Because it is spreading in near-by districts, we have taken a decision that we are not going to wait for Bhopal's report," Pawar said.

The state government aims to slaughter 4 lakh birds in a five-to-10 kilometre (three-to-six mile) radius of the affected areas and aims to complete it by Monday, after which clean up and disinfection operations will begin.

Agreeing with West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's reaction, Pawar said the situation "was indeed alarming."

Meanwhile, West Bengal's efforts to control the outbreak drew a sharp reaction from minister of state for health Panabaka Laxmi.

Reacting to an article...which revealed how compensation was not being paid to farmers whose birds were being culled, she said the Centre is unhappy over the steps taken by the state to contain the virus.

"We are not satisfied," she said.

She added "compensation to poultry losers was not being properly distributed."

From AFP :

Avian flu has been reported in three more districts in eastern India where authorities said poultry farmers have delayed a massive bird cull aimed at halting the spread of the virus.

A total of six districts in eastern West Bengal state have reported an outbreak of avian flu among poultry including a new one late Suday, the government said.

"Samples of dead chickens in Bankura district tested positive Sunday," West Bengal animal resources minister Anisur Rahaman told AFP.

The outbreak is the third in India since 2006, and the worst so far, according to the World Health Organisation, partly because it is more widespread.

The state government aims to kill about 400,000 birds in all the affected districts but culling teams have so far slaughtered just 100,000 after facing hostility from villagers.

"Police have been asked to accompany the culling teams which is bringing good results," Rahaman said.

Residents oppose the slaughter of their birds because they want immediate compensation.

Near Margram village -- the epicentre of the outbreak -- the biggest poultry farm with 30,000 birds remained untouched as the owner locked up the premises.

Many others fled their homes carrying chickens before the arrival of the culling teams, officials said. Local people attacked five members of a culling team with sticks and stones on Saturday.

West Bengal state borders Bangladesh, which is also fighting a bird flu outbreak.

From the Times Of India :

The contrast couldn't have been more stark. World Health Organisation officials were covered top to toe in what looked like space suits while a ragtag crowd of barely clothed villagers handled poultry with their bare hands, in the wake of an H5N1 avian flu virus epidemic in some districts of West Bengal.

The photographs, more eloquent than words, encapsulate the attitude: Caution and protection for officials, to hell with the rest.

Both WHO and government handouts warn of infection risk for those handling poultry without precautionary gear. Even inhaling the air or drinking water in the area contaminated with bird droppings or dust could lead to infection. Yet no efforts to protect villagers were evident though over 35,000 birds have already been culled over two days.

The slow pace of destroying birds suspected of carrying the deadly virus is also because of reluctance on the part of people to give up their birds without compensation. The delay in paying out compensation to poultry owners is an inexcusable failure of the government.

Reluctant to part with the birds without getting compensated first, many are resorting to hiding the birds in closed spaces in their homes.

When there was a suspected outbreak of the H5N1 avian flu virus in Maharashtra and Gujarat in 2006, swift action was taken. More than 5,00,000 birds were culled in a mere 24 hours under supervision of the national disaster management cell. What happened this time in West Bengal?

West Bengal Border Sealed To Stop Spread Of Bird Flu

Does India Have 700 Bird Flu Patients In Isolation?

India : Four Quarantined Children Cleared For H5N1 Infection

But 51 People Still Remain Under Quarantine

First the good news :

On Friday, authorities cleared four boys who had been suffering from fever after handling dead or sick poultry in Manipur.

Now the not so good news :

India has quarantined 51 people in Manipur following an outbreak of the H5N1 strain of influenza in chickens last month, a senior official said on Friday.

"Since all these people had worked in culling or sanitising operations or monitoring people's health around the affected poultry farm they have to be quarantined and monitored," said Vineet Chawdhry, joint secretary in the health ministry.

Most had complained of being "unwell", he added, but did not say whether any had flu-like symptoms.

All 51 were on Tamiflu, the popular drug to prevent and treat bird flu, as a precaution, the health ministry said.

Hundreds of cullers were involved in killing nearly 300,000 fowl over the past week in Manipur, a state bordering Myanmar that saw two outbreaks of bird flu in chickens in July alone.

The culling, which took place within a 5-km radius around the affected poultry farm near Imphal, ended on Thursday.

Health officials have completed checks of around 235,000 people in the area, but said they would closely monitor the situation.

Remarkable work by the health officials there. Two hundred thousand plus people checked in a handful of days. That's how you rein in the spread of bird flu : fast, efficient health checks and quarantines.

Times Of India Asks : Is Bird Flu Now Spreading Between Humans?

Four Children From Same Family Sick, Under Observation

Like most countries that suffer poultry outbreaks of H5N1, medical authorities in India are extremely nervous about the possibility of the virus infecting and then spreading between humans. Internationally, the World Health Organisation is terrified. The crowded cities and numerous slums of India provide the perfect environment for a widespread, or pandemic, outbreak of human bird flu.

Four young children from the same family are now sick, on Tamiflu and under observation. Confirmation that all four children have the bird flu virus is pending.

So it is not surprising then that the Times Of India asks today - Is Bird Flu Infecting Humans?

Four children, all under 14 years, from a farm in Chingmeirong village in Manipur have been quarantined and administered Tamiflu, the most affective antibiotic against bird flu, after investigations revealed that they had handled dead poultry in their farm, soon after the disease was detected in dead chickens from a nearby farm.

All of them, part of the same household, were found suffering from fever and throat infection by health officials carrying out door-to-door surveillance on humans, within the 5-km radius of this year's bird flu outbreak site. The throat swabs of the four children have been sent to National Institute of Communicable Diseases in Delhi and National Institute of Virology, Pune, for testing.

Till now, all those who have been infected in bird-flu outbreaks across the globe have actually been poultry workers who came in contact with infected birds.

The WHO says, globally at least 192 people have died due to bird flu out of 319 cases since 2003. The next 24 hours will be a nervous wait for the government and India's health experts as results of these tests are expected on Friday morning.

India has not reported a single human infection with the H5N1 virus till now. What's worrying the health ministry officials most is the fact that they don't know whether the chicken that died in the farm of these four teenagers had been infected with H5N1 or not.

This is because soon after the government announced the outbreak, the four sold off their stock of 120 birds to a nearby hotel owner. So, the scientists failed to collect samples of these birds.

Interestingly, the teenagers also confessed to health officials of having eaten some of the dead chickens. Chicken cooked at over 70 degrees Celsius is safe as the virus gets killed.

On July 25, India's department of animal husbandry announced that the deadly virus had returned to haunt India for the second year in a row, with this year's outbreak being reported from a small poultry farm in Chingmeirong village of East Imphal district in Manipur.

The Times of India makes a basic, and remarkable, mistake in its reporting :

Till now, all those who have been infected in bird-flu outbreaks across the globe have actually been poultry workers who came in contact with infected birds.

This simply isn't true. The virus has been caught by humans from infected birds sitting on windowsills (Indonesia), from eating infected chicken meat (Vietnam) and from infected birds in crowded public markets (Egypt).

Was this "only poultry workers" mistake by the journalist just bad research, or were they told this as a fact by the Indian authorities?

For the authorities in India, and for the H5N1 specialists in the World Health Organisation, the next day or two of waiting to find out if the four children have H5N1 are going to be long and nerve-wracking.

India : Outbreak Leads To "Bird Flu Raids" On Tens Of Thousands Of Homes

4 Children Monitored For Signs Of Infection

Four children in Manipur state came into contact with sick, or dead, poultry. They fell ill with fever and are now being monitored. India has been fighting H5N1 outbreaks in poultry in Manipur for weeks.

From Reuters :

The children have been restricted to their homes and are being visited twice a day by medical professionals, said Vineet Chawdhry, joint secretary in the ministry of health.

"We are being extra careful," Chawdhry said, adding that throat swabs and blood samples taken from the children had been sent to a federal laboratory, where tests for the H5N1 strain of bird flu will be carried out.

The children live within a 5-km (3-mile) radius of a small poultry farm where more than 130 chickens died last month from the H5N1 virus.

Health officials have checked more than 235,000 people around the affected farm since the weekend for flu symptoms, while veterinary workers have culled a similar number of birds in the remote northeastern state.

India had two major flare-ups of bird flu in its western region last year.

Manipur neighbors Myanmar, which has battled several outbreaks of bird flu in chickens this year, including one reported last week.

From Daily India :

Over 45,000 homes in Manipur's East Imphal District have been searched for signs of bird flu, and according to the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, 163 persons are suffering from respiratory-related symptoms, but not from bird flu.

The Department said that a Central Rapid Response Team is countering the outbreak of avian influenza in Chingmeirong Village, and as of now, 171 cullers are under the cover of Tamiflu. Their health status is being monitored.

The medical teams consisting of 680 health personnel in total have conducted house-to-house active surveillances in Luwangsangbam, Koirengei, Lamlongei, Ahalup, Matai, Kontha area, Achanbigei, Heingang, Laipham Siphai, Paomei Colony, Sangakpam, Khurai area and Kairang area.

Out of the 45,032 houses surveyed, 935 were having backyard poultry. A total of 2,35,161 persons were covered.

Illegal bird smuggling from Myanmar is being blamed for the H5N1 virus entering India.

India : Deeply Troubling Bird Flu Outbreaks Far Worse Than Headlines Reveal

Are we getting the full story on the extent of the H5N1 outbreak in India? Some argue that we are not. But the level of damage and economic impact from the outbreak is rising rapidly.

Sri Lanka has just banned poultry imports from India, and Indian authorities are culling tens of thousands of birds, and shutting down markets, in a growing circle out from the confirmed point of outbreak in the Manipur district :

Hundreds of health workers will fan out in Manipur state to check on the health of some 450,000 people in and around the affected poultry farm in the village of Chingmeirong on the outskirts of Imphal, the state capital.

It plans to slaughter some 150,000 poultry in a 5 km (3 mile) radius around the affected farm.

Neighboring Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan have also witnessed outbreaks of the H5N1 strain of bird flu this year.

India declared itself bird flu free last August.

From the Bird Flu News Flash :

The Bird-Flu outbreak in the North East state of Manipur is creating havoc with the lives of the residents of the state as the Government launches emergency measures to fight the H5N1 Virus.

Then follows a solid roundup of news on India's H5N1 outbreak.

Chicken, Egg Prices Tumble In India After Outbreak Confirmed

Mass Culling At India's Bird Flu Farm

House To House Inspections In India For Sick People, Dying Birds

Indian health officials, wearing masks, gloves and full body protection suits, started house to house searches for sick people and dying birds on Monday.

Famers burned more than 200,000 dead chickens at deserted poultry farms around Navapur, some 250 miles from Bombay.

A 27 year old owner of a poultry farm died after showing bird flu-like symptoms. Tests will soon reveal whether he had the virus.

The masked health inspectors who 'raided' homes around Navapur checked hundreds of people for signs of the virus and insisted all chickens kept in yards at private homes had to be killed and disposed of.

Locals told media it was like being in a war zone. Checkpoints now block all roads in and out of the district, to prevent people smuggling poultry.

Some 50 farms in district are now being emptied of all poultry stocks, with almost a million birds expected to be slaughtered, and the farms will be closed for up to three months.

India exports more than $80 million worth of eggs and poultry to Europe, Japan and the Middle East each year. Losses for the Indian poultry trade are expected to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars from this first massive outbreak alone.

IN GERMANY HUNDREDS OF TROOPS WERE BROUGHT IN TO DISPOSE OF DEAD WILD BIRDS IN AN EFFORT TO CONTAIN THE VIRUS

BIRD FLU RETURNED TO MALAYSIA, KILLING AT LEAST 40 CHICKENS OVER THE WEEKEND. THESE WERE THE FIRST REPORTED CASES OF THE H5N1 VIRUS IN MALAYSIA FOR MORE THAN A YEAR.

ON TUESDAY, A DEAD MAGPIE FOUND NEAR A PUBLIC MARKET IN HONG KONG WAS CONFIRMED AS HAVING DIED OF THE VIRUS, THE LATEST IN A STRING OF BIRD FLU RELATE BIRD DEATHS

IN NIGERIA, THE H5N1 VIRUS HAS BEEN FOUND IN THE NORTHERN STATES OF KATSINA AND ZAMFARA. FIVE NIGERIAN STATES NOW HAVE THE VIRUS. NO HUMAN INFECTIONS HAVE BEEN REPORTED.

WITHIN THE LAST TWO WEEKS, THE FOLLOWING COUNTRIES HAVE REPORTED DETECTION OF THE H5N1 VIRUS IN FARMED POULTRY OR WILD BIRDS :
FRANCEGERMANYGREECEITALYSLOVENIA

AUSTRIA

HUNGARY

BULGARIA

ROMANIA

CROATIA

AZERBAIJAN

RUSSIA

TURKEY

UKRAINE

BULGARIA

EUROPEAN CHICKEN FARMS REPORT CONSUMPTION OF POULTRY PRODUCTS HAS PLUNGED ACROSS EUROPE. LOSSES SO FAR EXPECTED TO TOP $500 MILLION. EU AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER SAYS CONDITIONS NOT SERIOUS ENOUGH, YET, TO WARRANT COMPENSATION ARRANGEMENTS FOR POULTRY FARMERS.

YESTERDAY : INDIA REPORTS FIRST POULTRY INFECTED WITH AVIAN INFLUENZA, 50,000 BIRDS FOUND DEAD

TODAY : INDIA ANNOUNCES FIRST HUMAN DEATH FROM AVIAN INFLUENZA VIRUS

An emergency campaign is unrolling in India to isolate poultry farms and villages that have been exposed to the bird flu virus over the past weeks.

India is the world's second most populous nation.

At least eight people are now under observation after showing symptoms of human infection by the avian influenza virus.

During television news broadcasts screened in Australia, poultry workers in India were shown attempting to bury thousands of culled chickens, but they were no protective gear, not even gloves or a face mask. The workers were shown picking up the dead birds and tossing them into pits.

The Bird Flu virus is now believed to have the ability to survive in poultry and wildbird droppings, remaining highly infectious. The virus may also be able to 'escape' a quarantine zone by travelling in the bird flu droppings that stick to workers boots.

MOST COMMON SYMPTOMS OF EARLY STAGE HUMAN BIRD FLU INFECTION

Sore throatAching musclesLethargyInfections of the eyes

Breathing problems

Chest pains

EGYPTIAN LEADERS ISSUE CALL FOR CALM AS BIRD FLU PANIC SPREADS

"Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazef on Saturday urged the public not to panic, one day after seven chickens were tested positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, the first such case found in Egypt.

'The public should not panic and the government is taking all measures to protect them,' the prime minister said.

INDIA BIRD FLU OUTBREAK ANNOUNCED

50,000 CHICKENS DIED FROM THE VIRUS

India estimated to have 1/2 billion poultry birds.

From the AFP :

"With migratory birds from affected countries such as China passing through the subcontinent in the winter, Indian officials have become increasingly concerned about the possibility of infection.

"Indian officials have said that in the eventuality of human-to-human transmission, bird flu would be a massive challenge for the country of more than one billion people with its underfunded health infrastructure."