Jan. 23: Bird flu was confirmed in Hooghly and Cooch Behar today, raising the number of affected districts to nine and sparking concern about the efficacy of border controls in the state.

The High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal said the poultry samples from Gopalpur village in Balagarh, Hooghly, and Jaridharala village in Dinhata, Cooch Behar, had tested positive for bird flu.

“So far, 34 blocks and four municipal areas in nine districts have been hit by the disease,” animal resource development minister Anisur Rahman said at Writers’ Buildings.

An official said in Delhi that either birds were “still moving from district to district or the virus spread when there was no ban on poultry movement”.

The minister said: “Roads to Calcutta would be under surveillance to prevent the transportation of chickens and eggs from the affected areas.”

A revised culling target is being worked out.

Animal husbandry officials in Delhi said 414,000 birds had been culled in Birbhum, South Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Nadia, Burdwan, and Bankura by the end of Tuesday.

All-party meetings were held in the flu-hit districts today to raise the level of awareness. Rahman said the number of culling teams at work went up from 476 to 640 today.

“The job is complete in South Dinajpur, where 80,000 birds were culled. It will be over in Burdwan and Bankura tomorrow,” the minister said.

The expanding scale of the epidemic is unlikely to lead to any change in strategy. Culling and a ban on movement of poultry will continue, a senior official told The Telegraph.

Vaccinating poultry against H5N1 is an option that India would not like to exercise now, the official added.

A vaccine has its own complications. For instance, vaccinated chickens may carry low levels of the virus and function as carriers. They may continue to shed the virus in the environment and expose humans to it. “Long-term human exposure to low levels of the virus shed by vaccinated chickens may lead to mutations in the virus, allowing it to infect humans more efficiently,” the official said. “Most countries have turned away from vaccination.”

Rahman said officials from the US and Japanese consulates met animal resource secretary Dilip Chakraborty yesterday and sought details on the flu as poultry products from Bengal were exported to the two countries.

The state government sanctioned Rs 5 crore for the flu fight today and asked for Rs 8.25 crore from the Centre. Both have spent Rs 3.5 crore each on culling and compensation.

The minister said he would request Delhi to raise the compensation amount. The damages being paid are in accordance with central norms.

In Balagarh, 80km from Calcutta, culling will begin tomorrow. Around 5,000 birds will be killed there.

Ten vets from Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Assam are expected to reach the affected districts tomorrow, Rahman said.