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Reuters is reporting that the test results on some of the birds that died in Malda, West Bengal over the past week have come back positive for the H5N1 virus. Media reports indicate as many as 5,000 birds may have died in the city over the past 7 days.
Malda, and much of the state of West Bengal, was embroiled in a prolonged battle with the H5N1 virus during the first four months of 2008. West Bengal received heavy criticism during the last crisis due to their reported slowness to take action against the virus.
This from Reuters.
Tests prove bird flu in east India poultry-official
Mon Dec 15, 2008 7:43pm IST
KOLKATA, India, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Laboratory tests have found the H5N1 bird flu virus in dead poultry in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, a senior state government official said on Monday.
"The laboratory test in Bhopal has confirmed the presence of the H5N1 virus in the dead birds," Sridhar Ghosh, the senior official in West Bengal's Malda district where the outbreak was found, told Reuters. (Reporting by Sujoy Dhar, Editing by Dean Yates)
