E-Paper
Birdflu spreads to another West Bengal district
Purulia district has become the tenth district in West Bengal to be declared affected by the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.
Purulia district on Friday became the tenth district in West Bengal to be declared affected by the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.
District Magistrate Deepak Ranjan Kar said birdflu surfaced at Ramchandrapur village under Santuri block in the district for the first time.
Samples from the district sent to central laboratories tested positive, he said.
Culling operations would begin in the village on Saturday, he said.
"We have set a target to cull 2500 chickens, he said.
Nine of the 19 districts of West Bengal -Bankura, Burdwan, Cooch Behar, Hooghly, Malda, Murshidabad, Nadia, Dakhin Dinajpur and Birbhum- have already been affected by the avian influenza.
The bird flu outbreak was confirmed on January 15 for the first time in Birbhum and Dakshin Dinajpur districts and swiftly spread to the other districts.
