Low compensation for culling poultry

Inadequate compensation for villagers in exchange for culling their poultry is hampering India's efforts to contain a serious outbreak of bird flu that continues to spread. Some villagers in the affected districts of the eastern state of West Bengal have chased out culling teams, complaining that 40 rupees on offer for every bird culled is below market rates. The state government has managed to cull only about 700,000 birds so far. Its target is 2 million. Bird flu has spread to 13 of West Bengal's 19 districts. Officials, who fear the outbreak could spiral out of control, are worried the disease could break out in the crowded state capital of Kolkata. One of the newly affected districts is Howrah - very near Kolkata, which means extra care is required that the virus does not hit the capital. The central government's laboratory tests have confirmed the virulent H5N1 strain of the disease is present in at least two of those districts; officials expect further tests will show the same strain in the remaining districts. India's bird flu action plan makes clear that efforts to stamp out the disease will only succeed if adequate compensation is offered for forced cullings. Officials are thinking about raising compensation if possible. But not everyone is resisting the culling. In some areas, children without protective gear helped out culling teams by chasing and catching birds for them. The World Health Organisation (WHO) worries that the H5N1 strain, which has already killed more than 200 people worldwide since 2003, could mutate into a form that passes easily between humans and infect and kill millions. This is the fourth outbreak of the strain in India since 2006, although it has never recorded a case of human infection. According to WHO this is the most serious outbreak in India so far. Bhutan has already banned Indian poultry. Guards on both sides of the border are watching out for chicken smugglers. But officials in Delhi have already conceded little can be done to stop infected wild birds flying across. Animal husbandry officials in Delhi have speculated that sick birds hailing from Bangladesh may have spread the disease into neighbouring West Bengal.