# 4256
As we’ve seen over the past several winters, India once again finds itself battling the H5N1 virus in domestic poultry; this time in Murshidabad, West Bengal.
Despite aggressive culling operations in the past, the virus appears to have become endemic in West Bengal and surrounding states, along with neighboring Bangladesh.
As in previous years, the initial presumption by local authorities that the poultry deaths were from something other than H5N1 appears to have delayed testing and subsequent containment efforts.
This from the Times of India.
Bird flu confirmed, culling starts in Murshidabad
TNN, 15 January 2010, 03:16am ISTBEHRAMPORE: Murshidabad's Khargram block has come under the grip of bird flu. The Animal Disease Laboratory (ADL) in Bhopal has confirmed that two hens from the block died of the H5N1 (avian influenza) virus, commonly known as bird flu. District administration has started culling operation from Thursday night.
SDO (Kandi) Utpal Bhadra confirmed that serum samples of two birds from Nagar and Hazrabati villages, sent to the Bhopal laboratory, had tested positive.
The culling operations started in a 3-km radius of Nagar and Hazrabati villages from Thursday evening. "We hope to finish the task in a day or two," said Murshidabad DM Parwez Ahmed Siddiqui.
Sources said that in the last 10 days, over 1,000 hens and ducks had died mysteriously in Khargram. Indrani, Kirtipur, Parulia, Jaipurand Margram areas were the worst affected. At first, administrative officers and animal resource development department officers thought the birds died from the cold wave and Ranikhet disease. But when the number of deaths increased in the last five days, the administration sent samples to Bhopal.
