Culling of Chicken Outpaced Due to Spread of Bird Flu In West Bengal
Right at the beginning of New Year 2008, the state of West Bengal, India witnessed a severe outbreak of bird flu among poultry. All the 13 out of 19 districts of West Bengal are seriously gripped by the deadly H5N1 virus, affecting the chicken health in the state. Very recently 24 Parganas (South) and West Midnapore have also come into the grip of bird flu, throwing a great section of the population into the danger zone. As per a report laid down by West Bengal Animal Husbandry Minister Anisur Rahman, bird flu virus has also affected several other districts like Murshidabad (Samshergunge) and Cooch Behar (Mathabhanga). Almost over 1.57 million birds have been culled by Sunday, although 2.2 millions was the pre-set target. It has been declared that consuming chicken during this period may turn out to be seriously dangerous for human beings as well as for animals. Despite the fact that influenza A (H5N1) virus – bird flu virus are only deadly to poultry and does not usually affect mammal