India's Avian Flu Outbreak Is `Serious

An outbreak of avian flu in India's West Bengal state is ``serious'' and the virus has spread rapidly to many districts, the World Health Organization's representative said.

The outbreak is the 10th in India since the H5N1 avian influenza virus was first reported to have killed poultry there in February 2006. No human cases have been recorded in India.

India has the capacity to handle the situation as the ``fundamentals of planning are sound,'' S.J. Habayeb, the organization's representative in the South Asian nation, said in an interview conducted over e-mail.

The disease has spread to more districts in West Bengal, taking the total number to nine, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said in New Delhi today. ``We are trying to control the situation.''

The government has stepped up culling, with the total number of chickens killed almost doubling to 414,597 today from the 242,200 reported yesterday, according to the agriculture ministry. India confirmed the disease among poultry in the state on Jan. 15.

As many as 116,203 chickens have died from the virus, the ministry said in the release. Samples from six districts have tested negative. About 258 teams have been deployed for culling and surveillance operations in West Bengal, the ministry added.

`Backyard Culling'

``The main problem we are facing is culling in the backyards,'' Anisur Rahman, West Bengal's animal resources minister, said in a telephone interview from the state capital of Kolkata, also known as Calcutta. ``In other places, where the disease was reported, the farmers carried their poultry to a central farm in a village. Here, volunteers have to go to each house and convince farmers to do the culling.''