Hidden from flu fighters, a chicken gives a boy company at his home in Birbhum on Tuesday. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Jan. 29: Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has asked chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb to talk to the Centre about America’s offer of help in combating bird flu.

“We have heard about the US offering us assistance to tackle bird flu in the state. Let our chief secretary talk to Delhi to explore what kind of assistance can be had from the US,” animal resource development minister Anisur Rahman quoted Bhattacharjee as saying at today’s cabinet meeting.

The chief minister is learnt to have suggested that if the US or China had any anti-H5N1 vaccine, “we can study its feasibility”.

According to a US embassy spokesperson, Washington had on January 23 offered the state government assistance in checking the availability of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu from worldwide stocks, besides technical support for human and animal surveillance and diagnosis, and culling.

According to Rahman, Bhattacharjee has also sought the Centre’s help to find out if the virus has come in from Bangladesh.

“We have reports that 15 countries were hit by bird flu, of which Bangladesh, Egypt and Indonesia were the worst affected. We fear the avian influenza virus spread to our state from Bangladesh. But this has to be ascertained by Delhi,” the minister said.

Officials said the issue also figured at a meeting of the animal resource development (ARD) department in Delhi today, which was attended by Bengal resident commissioner Hem Pande.

The bird flu virus widened its reach in the state today with more samples from Nadia, Birbhum and Malda testing positive.

Harijanpalli in ward No. 2 of the Kalyani municipality in Nadia, about 40km from Calcutta, has been declared bird flu-hit.

The H5N1 virus was also confirmed in Suchpur, Baliguni and Bautia in Nanoor block of Birbhum, besides Karimpur in Suri I and Shiulia in Mayureswar I.

In Malda, bird flu was detected in Kaliachak I and Kaliachak III blocks. The ARD has sent culling teams there.

In Baduria, North-24 Parganas, about 73km from Calcutta, 4,000 out of 6,000 chickens of a private farm were found dead.

“Although these samples have not yet tested positive, we cannot take any chances. Culling will begin there tomorrow,” ARD minister Rahman said.

Culling will also take place at Uttar-Panchla village in Panchla block of Howrah district as several chickens have died there since last week.

Panic gripped Pathar Para village in Gosaba, South 24-Parganas, 90km from here, when villagers spotted a dead falcon in a field around noon.

Panchayat pradhan Meena Mridha said the bird had been sent to the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Calcutta for tests.

The Government Railway Police seized five jute bags packed with country chickens from a platform at Bandel station in Hooghly last night. They informed ARD officials, who culled the birds and buried them near the station.

In East Midnapore, the district administration ordered culling in 67 villages, which fall within a 5km radius of Debra in West Midnapore, where the H5N1 virus was confirmed on Sunday.

Rahman said over 21 lakh chickens had been culled till yesterday. The target is 25 lakh. “Over two lakh chickens were culled today. We shall complete the culling by tomorrow,” the minister said.

Rahman said the government would take action against 185 culling team members who returned from Birbhum’s Rampurhat I block yesterday, apparently citing fatigue after a week’s work.

“All culling team members have been asked to stay in their respective areas for at least 10 days. These people had taken adequate doses of Tamiflu. They need to be quarantined for at least 10 days,” the minister said.