VZCZCXRO7396
PP RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHCI #0105 0881349
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 281349Z MAR 08
FM AMCONSUL KOLKATA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1942
INFO RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0096
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME 0024
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 2373

UNCLAS KOLKATA 000105 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PLEASE PASS HHS, CDC, AND APHIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KFLU EAGR TBIO ECON PGOV CASC AMED SENV IN
SUBJECT: LATEST AVIAN INFLUENZA OUTBREAK IN WEST BENGAL SPREADS TO 
JALPAIGURI 
 
REF: KOLKATA 0084 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Avian influenza has spread to Northern West 
Bengal's Jalpaiguri district.  A culler who fell sick in the 
AI-affected Malda district has shown no sign of H5N1 infection 
so far.  The infection continues to spread as officials now put 
in place movement restrictions and culling.  Villagers, not 
convinced about the response measures, continue to evade the 
restriction, abetting the spread of the virus.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶2.   After resurfacing in Malda district in the second week of 
March, the H5N1 has now entered Jalpaiguri district in North 
Bengal (reftel).  On March 27, Bhopal's High Security Animal 
Diseases Laboratory (HSADL) confirmed the presence of H5N1 in 
samples sent from a backyard poultry of Mondolghat village.  The 
village is located near Jalpaiguri district headquarters, about 
550 miles north of Kolkata. 
 
¶3.  Culling is scheduled to begin on March 28.  The district 
administration and West Bengal Animal Resources Department (ARD) 
officials have moved 50 teams (each having 10 members) and 
hardware to cull around 50,000 poultry by March 30.  Sale of 
poultry has been banned within a 6 mile radius of Mondolghat 
village. 
 
¶4.  Early this week, the media reported about a culler in Malda 
falling sick.  Malda's Chief Medical Officer of Health's office 
told Post that 55-year-old male Haripada Das was a member of a 
culling team.  Das came to work on March 21 with "smokers' 
cough" but was taken off duty on March 23 after doctors found 
him coughing. He does not have fever and is under quarantine and 
observation. There was no report of cullers showing signs of 
H5N1 infection. 
 
¶5.  Malda district administration is not allowing cullers to 
return home immediately after culling.  They are quarantined at 
Malda District Sports Association facilities with policemen 
guarding them. Earlier, cullers could go back home with their 
pay.  Malda administration is now allowing cullers to return 
only after the mandatory 10-day quarantine.  Malda residents are 
complaining about not getting compensation or not getting the 
right amount. 
 
¶6.   On March 27, "The Telegraph" - a prominent daily newspaper 
published from Kolkata - reported that a couple had died of an 
unknown fever at the Sonamukhi block hospital in Bankura 
district, about 150 miles West of Kolkata.  The report also said 
that a dozen other villagers were in hospital with high 
temperature and over 100 are said to be unwell in their village. 
  The Post spoke to the block Medical Officer of Health in 
Bankura who attended the patients.  According to the doctor, 
this was an "isolated case" and he suspected some "chronic liver 
disease."  The couple who died came to him with fever and had 
high bilirubin levels.  It was too late by the time they came to 
the hospital, he said.  No one else is admitted in his hospital 
with a similar problem. 
 
¶7.   COMMENT:  AI in West Bengal remains limited to poultry and 
there have been no reported human AI cases.  The state 
government's hasty decision to lift the ban on poultry movement 
within a month after the earlier January outbreak and 
ineffective controls appear to have contributed to the latest 
outbreaks.  People in the affected areas are also not complying 
with the restrictions as they are not aware of AI's risks. 
 
JARDINE