VZCZCXRO4911
PP RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHCI #0069/01 0531543
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 221543Z FEB 08
FM AMCONSUL KOLKATA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1899
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE USD FAS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON 0395
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0142
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 2317

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KOLKATA 000069 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PLS PAS CDC -COX AND BLOUNT AND HHS-STEIGER AND HICKEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KFLU EAGR TBIO SENV PREL PGOV AMED CASC IN BG
SUBJECT: AI IN W. BENGAL SITREP 20 - APHIS ADVISOR VISITS BIRD FLU 
AFFECTED AREAS OF WEST BENGAL 
 
REF: KOLKATA 54 AND PREVIOUS 
 
KOLKATA 00000069  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  On February 13-15, USDA-APHIS Scientific and 
Technical Advisor for Emergency Management, Joseph Annelli and 
New Delhi Embassy Senior Attache for Agricultural Affairs, 
Oliver Flake visited a West Bengal district affected by the 
recent H5N1 outbreak.  They also visited the India-Bangladesh 
border to assess the possibility of cross-border transmission of 
the virus.  During their visit to Kolkata and adjoining 
districts, Annelli and Flake visited organized and backyard 
poultry farms, interacted with senior W. Bengal government 
officials, and met an FAO delegation also present in West 
Bengal. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) On February 14, the US team visited Krishnagar town, in 
West Bengal's Nadia district, located about 75 miles north of 
Kolkata.  The GOWB had declared eight administrative blocks in 
the area as affected by AI between January 19 and 22.  The team 
first visited backyard poultry farms in the Krishnagar I 
administrative block, adjacent to the town.  The Block first 
reported poultry deaths on January 16 and H5N1 outbreak was 
confirmed on January 19.  Culling operation started January 20. 
Nadia completed culling 376,000 birds by January 28.  The farms 
have now been disinfected and sealed, with the birds buried in 
isolated pits.  The district administration has put up prominent 
notices over burial pits, imposing a five-year ban on use of the 
land.  Senior district officials briefed the US team during the 
site visit.  The team found no live birds within the affected 
areas. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The US team then met with Nadia District Magistrate 
Omkar Singh Meena who was in charge of the district's response 
to the AI outbreak.  Meena told the group that due to the AI 
outbreak in neighboring Bangladesh, the GOWB had alerted his 
office as early as July 2007 to the possibility of AI in W. 
Bengal.  At that time, the GOWB held a two-day workshop for 
district magistrates in border districts and ordered them to 
activate the GOWB's AI response contingency plan.  Meena told 
the US team that key personnel of his administration also 
received training and were familiar with the plan, although the 
lower-level functionaries had not been sensitized to the AI 
response program.  Additionally, offices of small town officials 
were not well-equipped with sufficient infrastructure to enable 
them to access GOI's AI action plan electronically. 
 
¶4. (SBU) When the outbreak was confirmed on January 19 
(Saturday), Meena said he was able to mobilize about 800 people 
and obtain adequate funds within a 12-hour time period.  Apart 
from trained personnel from Animal Resource and Health 
departments, volunteers came from panchayats (village councils), 
NGOs and political party workers across the political spectrum. 
The WB Land Reforms Department supplied detailed maps and helped 
demarcate boundaries.  Meena also indicated that logistical 
supplies like disinfectants, tarpaulins were readily available, 
although there was a shortage of Personal Protective Equipment 
(PPE) in the first two days. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Meena did note that there was a need to reassess the 
infrastructure with the GOWB to respond to a subsequent AI 
outbreak.  Meena thought that the overall surveillance system 
should be made stronger, with GIS support.  There was also a 
need for regional level laboratories for faster virus detection 
and response.  Meena said that the GOWB was "in the dark" about 
where the infection came from and urged the "international 
community to take responsibility" of identifying the source of 
the infection.  He remarked facetiously that the strain of H5N1 
affecting W. Bengal was apparently an "intelligent" strain as it 
did not choose to cross the inter-state border to reach Bihar, 
Jharkhand or Assam.  (Note: there have been reports of bird 
deaths in Assam, but test results came back negative for H5N1. 
End note.).  Meena conveyed that his administration initially 
followed the state's disaster management plan to tackle the bird 
flu situation and were successfully able to control the outbreak. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Annelli and Flake then traveled 20 miles east of 
Krishnagar Town to reach the India-Bangladesh border at 
Dattaphulia.  The local commandant of Indian Border Security 
Force (BSF) briefed the visitors.  The team then drove along the 
main border road and up to the border itself (cross border 
movement was not possible as these parts of the border are 
fenced with barbed wire and guarded by BSF personnel).  However, 
along both sides of the road were banana plantations, which were 
 
KOLKATA 00000069  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
deliberately planted to assist illegal cross-border cattle trade 
from India to Bangladesh.  The team was informed that poultry 
movement from Bangladesh can possibly occur through this route. 
The Icchamati River, meandering in and out of Bangladesh, forms 
a natural border with India in some areas, however.  The team 
observed ducks and poultry on the Bangladesh side (in areas also 
affected by AI) coming back and forth between the two countries. 
 The team also saw backyard poultry farms in operation within 
300 yards of the "no man's land" that exists on both sides of 
the official border. 
 
¶7. (U) On February 15, Annelli and Flake drove about 65 miles 
northwest of Kolkata to Bardhaman to visit a large poultry farm 
owned by Arambagh Hatcheries Ltd (AHL).  AHL is the largest 
poultry operation in West Bengal and has about 100 commercial 
farms that breed and rear chicken.  AHL has facilities for a car 
tire bath, hand and shoe wash, disinfectant mist and vehicle 
spray before approaching the coops.  The AHL facilities had 
better bio-security measures than backyard poultries.  However, 
such operations are always at the mercy of backyard poultry 
operations as one single outbreak in the vicinity could be 
dangerous for their  operation.  AHL officials suggested to 
Annelli that the GOWB should ensure strict bio-security 
facilities and a vaccination regime for backyard poultries. 
 
¶8.  (U) The team also met with GOWB officials.  First, they 
spoke with WB Health Department Secretary Rajendra Shukla. 
Shukla briefed the group on the spread of the disease using 
daily updated maps of affected areas and discussed GOWB testing 
procedures.  He explained in depth that the GOWB was able to 
mobilize significant human resources in a short period of time, 
which was key to containing the spread of the disease.  The team 
also met with WB ARD Secretary Dilip Chakravorty.  Annelli 
suggested the possibility of a regional approach to combating 
AI, including Bangladesh, Burma, India, and China.  When asked 
if the GOWB needed any assistance on AI, Chakravorty said that 
they did not need equipment, but there was a need for more 
awareness building and sensitivity training on AI.  He 
acknowledged that Consulate officials had approached his 
department with an assistance proposal but he explained the 
department's inability to take an independent decision on this 
proposal as the central government has the final decision making 
authority.  He said such assistance would have to be channeled 
via the GOI in New Delhi. 
 
¶9. (U) While the US team was traveling through the affected 
areas, there were reports of poultry mortality from a farm in 
Umacharanpur village (Falakata administrative block) of 
Jalpaguri district in North Bengal.  Media reported the death of 
400-1,000 birds since February 12.  A senior ARD official told 
post that samples from the farm have returned negative for H5N1. 
 The official said with poultry trade banned in West Bengal till 
February 12, the owner could not sell chicken to buy poultry 
feed and that the birds died of starvation. 
JARDINE