# 1617
There are rules, guidelines, even protocols of course. But according to the BBC, they are being ignored.
If human infections don't arise out of these culling teams, it won't be for lack of trying.
India's risky bird flu offensive
By Subir Bhaumik
BBC News, Hatpur, West Bengal
Hundreds of curious people watch the culling of poultry at Hatpur village in the Indian state of West Bengal with no protective clothing - not even a towel around their noses.
The only people in the village with protective gear for bird flu are the five members of the culling team - and this correspondent.
Local official Aloka Mondal says she is busy trying to meet government targets for culling birds and does not have the time to follow the safety protocol.
Standard practice for culling dictates that villages have to be vacated, people without protective gear should be removed from the area and the culled birds should be disposed off in sanitised zones.
"I have a target to achieve. We have to cull 45,000 to 50,000 birds in our area and we have been asked to do it within two days," says Ms Mondal.
"We don't have enough people in government to do it, so we have drafted some locals for a daily fee."
Chanditola, Hatpur and Jonai are latest in the list of bird-flu affected areas in West Bengal.
