India culls poultry to contain new bird flu outbreak

By Bappa Majumdar

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Only a month after authorities declared bird flu was under control in eastern India, veterinary workers began culling thousands of chickens on Monday to contain a fresh outbreak in poultry.

The outbreak was reported from West Bengal's Murshidabad district where 900 chickens and ducks died over the last two weeks, officials said.

In January, the H5N1 virus had hit 13 of the state's 19 districts, including Murshidabad, bringing down poultry sales by more than 70 percent in the state, but it had a limited impact in rest of the country.

Authorities in West Bengal then culled more than 3.4 million birds in the state after the World Health Organization (WHO) described January's outbreak as the worst-ever in India.

There have been no reported human cases of the bird flu. Experts fear the H5N1 strain could one day mutate into a form easily transmitted from person to person, leading to a pandemic that could kill millions worldwide.

Officials in eastern India say bird flu among poultry could spread to new areas.

"We do not know how many chickens and ducks escaped culling during the earlier exercise, but we are now trying our best to find them," Anisur Rahaman, the state's animal resources minister told Reuters from the state capital, Kolkata.

Bird deaths were also reported from neighboring Birbhum district, the epicenter of the original outbreak in January.