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India expands chicken slaughter
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HEALTH LIBRARYQUICKVOTEYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSNEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Mass culling of chickens continued Tuesday in India, with officials widening to 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) the radius of the zone in which all poultry is being killed to stop the spread of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. Anees Ahmed, minister of India's Department of Animal Husbandry, told CNN that officials will begin to hold meetings in the small towns and villages of remote areas in the western state of Maharashtra to inform people about bird flu and the steps they can take to stop its spread. Ahmed said residents in those areas do not have easy access to television or newspapers and are largely uninformed about the malady. So far, only three cases of bird flu have been confirmed among chickens in India. No human cases have been found, officials said, although several people with flu-like symptoms are under observation. CNN's partner in India, CNN-IBN, reports that eight people have been admitted to hospitals in Nandurbar district and samples of their blood have been sent to a national infectious diseases lab. Mass culling has destroyed 300,000 chickens in the region so far, authorities said, and is expected to end later Tuesday. Maria Zampaglione, spokeswoman for the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), said Monday there are plans to vaccinate other birds near the affected region. Farmers are being compensated for the loss of their livestock, but poultry farms in the area will be closed down for three months. In a country that is the world's fifth-largest exporter of eggs, poultry sales have plummeted, and the national railway and some airlines have stopped serving chicken on their routes. Meanwhile, Nigeria's health minister said Tuesday the virus had been detected among birds in as many as seven states within the country, all in the north. Eyitayo Lambo told CNN there were no confirmed human cases yet, but 100 people are under surveillance with flu-like symptoms. A complete ban on the interstate and intrastate movement of poultry was announced by the government Monday, he said. In Britain, the famed ravens of the Tower of London have been brought inside to protect them from contracting bird flu, a spokesman for the Tower said Tuesday. (Full story) So far there have been no confirmed cases of bird flu in England. Meanwhile, Veterinary experts from several European Union countries have been discussing the best way to deal with the H5N1 strain of the virus -- which has shown up in five EU countries so far. (Full story) A vaccination program is one idea under consideration by EU veterinary experts, but critics point out that the cost and the application -- two injections at three week intervals -- is impractical. Also, the vaccination could mask the symptoms of bird flu in fowl already infected with the disease, making it harder to detect and easier to spread. The countries listed as having confirmed cases of H5N1 among birds as of February 21 are: Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nigeria, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam. Korea and Japan also have confirmed cases of the H5N2 virus, the list shows. According to the World Health Organization, 170 people worldwide have contracted the H5N1 strain of bird flu since 2003, and 92 of them have died. 
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