Govt. to blame for this Flu outbreak?

Pranesh Sarkar & Manas R Bannerjee

KOLKATA/MALDA, March 20: While the latest Bird Flu outbreak in Malda is being blamed on illegal trading in chickens by ignorant villagers in notified areas, a state-owned poultry farm in the district, where the H5N1 virus has been detected, seems by no means less guilty. According to reports received by the state animal resources department (ARD) and the Malda district authorities, the farm has sold chickens and eggs-for-hatching till 14 March though unnatural chicken deaths was reported there in 12 March. This revelation has unsettled the district as well as state animal resources department officials. They said that sale of chickens and eggs had been banned in the farm after Bird Flu hit Chanchol in Malda in January. District officials said they would try to locate the people likely to have bought poultry products from the farm since January and keep an eye on them as well as on the localities where they resided. Malda district magistrate Mr CR Das said: “I will ask the farm authorities to gives us details of the buyers. Once we find out their addresses or other contact details, we will try to know what they'd done with the poultry products.” Confirming that a ban had been placed on the sale of poultry products at the government's Malda farm, state animal resources department minister Mr Anisur Rahman said: “I don't know whether the order was flouted. I will look into it.” ARD deputy director, Malda, Mr NK Shit said: “No chicks were supplied to any of the government agencies in Malda or other districts. Only fully-grown chickens and eggs-for-hatching were sold locally. But even this had been stopped from 14 March.” A few ARD officials said the disease had hit the poultry farm, the second largest government farm of its kind in the state, before 12 March and chicken deaths were reported from that day. As the farm didn't heed the no-sale ban, the virus might have spread to other areas, they said.