Caught Napping
Far From Fowlproof
No dearth of warning, but a lack of State will made bird flu the scary epidemic here
How the West Bengal government didn't see it coming
- Ignored initial reports of large-scale bird deaths in last week of December
- Virus detected in preliminary tests, but dragged its feet in getting confirmatory tests
- Kept Centre in the dark despite it being mandatory for states to report a suspected outbreak in 24 hrs
- Culling operations began on January 16-three weeks after the outbreak. This allowed the virus to spread unchecked.
- Lack of protective gear, vehicles and Tamiflu tablets hampered culling
- The virus has already killed 1,13,796 chicken. Till January 23, another 2,42,000 birds were culled. The government's weekly culling target is 2,10,000 birds.
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