# 1878
Further proof that once the H5N1 virus gets entrenched in a region, particularly in backyard poultry, it becomes very difficult to eradicate.
This is a lesson that Vietnam, Egypt, and Indonesia have learned the hard way.
Bird flu outbreaks in W.Bengal not contained-India
Wed 16 Apr 2008, 10:38 GMT
By Tan Ee Lyn
NEW DELHI, April 16 (Reuters) - Outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu in India's eastern state of West Bengal, which shares a long border with Bangladesh, have not yet been contained, a senior health official in India said on Wednesday.
"West Bengal is an area of concern because we have had outbreaks with some regularity, it is not fully under control yet," federal Health Secretary Naresh Dayal said in an interview.
Unlike outbreaks in commercial poultry farms in central Maharashtra state in 2006 and eastern Manipur in 2007, which were more easily reined in, outbreaks in West Bengal involved backyard poultry and these were much harder to control, he said.
"They have not been able to completely depopulate (the infected areas) of birds," Dayal said, without giving details.
At the bottom of this article are some important points made by Guan Yi, a well respected bird flu researcher in Hong Kong.
According to Guan, the H5N1 virus is adapting to warmer weather, and outbreaks are likely to occur year round. He also states that the virus can survive for 3 days in warm water.
Despite surging temperatures in Asia, the H5N1 virus has reemerged in recent weeks, with outbreaks in poultry seen in South Korea and even a village in the far east of Russia.
<snip>
"It has adapted to hotter climates. Look at Indonesia and the southern parts of Vietnam, they are hot all year round but the virus has become endemic in these places," said Hong Kong-based microbiologist Guan Yi, a leading expert on the virus.
<snip>
"The virus can survive up to three days in water. It's no problem even if the temperature of the water is up to 38 or 39 degrees (celsius) because that's the body temperature of the chicken and duck, which is fine for the virus," Guan said.
