RSOE EDIS - Situation Update No. 4 : India - Biological Hazard

RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service Budapest, Hungary RSOE EDIS ALERTMAIL

Situation Update No. 4 Posted:2010-01-14, 16:57:32 [UTC] Ref.no.: BH-20100114-24553-IND Situation Update No. 4 On 2010-02-02 at 03:57:48 [UTC] Event: Biological Hazard Location: India State of West Bengal Murshidabad Situation: As many as 1,47,512 birds have been culled and 17,420 eggs destroyed in bird flu-infected districts of Bengal till now since the fresh outbreak was first reported from Hazrabati and Nagar villages in Khargram blocks of Murshidabad district on January 14. According to an official statement, since January 14, more outbreaks have been reported from Haripur, Ninur, Pathai, Jhajra and Sankarpur villages and the state government has also notified outbreak of bird flu in Faridpur, Budua, Khorjona and Simulia villages of Burwan block. A three-member central rapid response team from the ministry of health and family welfare has been stationed in the state to assist the health authorities. Surveillance activities are going on within three to ten kilometre radius of the infected areas. “State government has adequate stock of oseltamivir and personal protective equipment (essential medicines and equipments to fight bird flu),” the statement added. In 2008, India reported an outbreak of bird flu disease from Birbhum and Dakshin Dinajpur districts of West Bengal after traces of the H5N1 were found in domestic poultry firms. Within weeks, bird flu cases were reported from Nadia, Burdwan, Murshidabad, Bankura, Coochbehar, Birbum, South 24 Parganas, Hoogly and Malda. The outbreak was termed as the worst case of bird flu in the country. Health officials suspect that chickens and eggs illegally transported from Bangladesh , which itself has been reeling under its own outbreak of Bangladesh could have been responsible for the spread of disease to India. The virus later spread to Tripura, which also borders Bangladesh and Myanmar . In total around 41 outbreaks of bird flu were reported from the two states between January and April, the worst being in West Bengal. Please DO NOT reply to this message: replies may be treated as errors and result in your subscription being deleted. If you have trouble or other queries, send email to havaria@rsoe.hu RSOE EDIS is operated by the National Association of Radio-Distress Signalling and Infocommunications (RSOE), Budapest, Hungary. Because of the complexity of this system and its dependence on other systems, we cannot be responsible for delays or failures in forwarding or transmission. You're receiving this AlertMail because you subscribed for the service. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. Contact: havaria@rsoe.hu