It is official now…the deadly Bird Flu virus is found in some of the poultry farms in five of the eight suspected districts of West Bengal. Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has said the state government played a sluggish role and delayed in taking any appropriate step to restrict the spread of virus in poultry farms in state. He criticized the government by saying that still the culling process in the ‘unusual mortality’ districts was slow. He has even told West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to stop inter-district movement of birds to restrict the infection to any other districts.

He said: The first incidence was reported on January 4. The Central government was informed on January 11. Appropriate action was not taken and bird flu spread.

Now, the reports are saying that the virus is spreading in many other parts of the state. However, the virus was contained speedily when detected in Maharashtra in 2005 and in Manipur in 2007 because the state government undertook culling operations aggressively. The central government had issued Rs. 3.5 crore to West Bengal to provide compensation to poultry farm owners. About 1,60,440 birds has been culled in eight districts in the state. Some media reports said that the virus might have infected five people. According to the reports India might have its first human cases of bird flu if five persons who were under observation for showing symptoms associated with the infection. However, the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) has rejected reports of five people being possibly infected by the lethal virus. The Centre has also rejected sucjh reports coming in media.

NICED scientist Sekhar Chakraborty said: The news of a possible viral attack on five humans is totally baseless. The five samples that were sent for laboratory tests in Pune were all negative and we have sent the report to ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research).

The outbreak of bird flu has also been confirmed in Malda, the seventh district, The six other districts reportedly infected with the virus are Birbhum, South Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Nadia, Burdwan and Bankura.Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said that no human case was reported and the governments; both centre and West Bengal have taken all measures to stop the spread of the bird flu.The major question is that do the states across the country have advance medical facilities and dedicated workforce to work hard to stop the spread of the deadly virus in new areas. If the government did not respond well right now in this direction it might be said that several other states are also at risk of the Bird Flu virus. About Bird Flu and steps to be taken as precautionary measures:Bird flu or Avian Influenza is a highly infectious virus. It generally infects birds or poultry products. H5N1, a subtype of Bird Flu, causes troubles in humans because it is transmissible from poultry to humans. It may become highly fatal and result in severe disease. Later, the virus can change itself into another form that may spread from person to person also. This is the most lethal form of the disease and may result in a sudden outbreak and there is no medicine for such disease in market. The best way to restrict the spread of the virus is to stop it in initial stage. People working with the poultry or living nearby are more at risk of getting infected. One can get infected even by inhaling the air or drinking water in such areas where the virus is found. Bird droppings or dust may also lead to infection.Persistent cough, cold, fever, body ache and eye infection are some of the clinical symptoms of the infection. The symptoms could develop into pneumonia or multi organ failure. The higher stage of infection may cause death also.People working in poultry farms or living in nearby areas should develop habits to wash their hands with soap and water every time you get in contact with birds any farming products.If the bird flu is confirmed people should wear a mask. People should cook the poultry products at high flames during preparation of the food. The WHO has declared the risk of a H5N1 pandemic is great.