By Bappa Majumdar KOLKATA, India, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Veterinary workers began killing thousands of chickens in India's east as fears mounted that bird flu could have spread to a third district in the state of West Bengal. Officials said it could take up to a week to cull about 400,000 chickens in two districts of West Bengal state where the latest outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza has been detected. They feared the virus could have spread to a third district where dead poultry had been found. Samples from the dead birds had been sent for testing and results are expected on Wednesday. "We hope it's not bird flu there as well," Anisur Rahaman, West Bengal's animal resources minister, told Reuters. "Our objective is to cull up to 400,000 chickens and contain the virus from spreading at any cost." More than 300 veterinary workers and volunteers killed the birds by breaking their necks and in some cases stuffing them in gunny sacks and burying them alive. Eggs were also destroyed. Health workers were also monitoring people for flu symptoms. A Reuters photographer in Margram village, the epicentre of the latest outbreak, saw worried villagers watch the culling process from a distance and help dig pits to bury the birds. Some of them, who said they did not know about bird flu, had eaten the dead birds and were now worried about their health. "Nobody warned us and we ate 7-8 dead birds," Asadul Islam, a poultry farmer told Reuters from Margram by phone. In some villages, people queued up at the local health centre for a check-up. Protection did not seem to be of much importance as many in other villages of the affected districts were seen holding dead pigeons and crows with their bare hands. At some places, people wrapped their hands in plastic bags and buried dead chickens. This is the fourth outbreak of the H5N1 strain in Indian poultry since 2006. West Bengal has sealed a stretch of its border with Bangladesh, which has been fighting to contain the spread of bird flu since March last year. Bird flu has spread to another district in Bangladesh, forcing authorities to cull more than 1,500 birds, officials said on Wednesday. With the latest outbreak, 72 farms in 23 of Bangladesh's 64 districts have been infected with the virus. (Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and David Fogarty)
Health workers bury a dead chicken in Margram village, about 240 km (149 miles) north of the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, January 15, 2008. The Indian government confirmed on Tuesday ...
