West Bengal still struggles with bird flu

West Bengal has been fighting the bird flu for three months now. But the epidemic shows no signs of going away, erupting in new places every few weeks. Now, Union Health Minister Ramadoss has said that if the outbreak is not controlled properly, India could see its first human case.

"I am afraid the way the bird flu is being handled in Bengal is not enough to stamp it out, I think we may see the first human case soon,'' said Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, Union Health Minister.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation or FAO also shares the same fear as the affected area has a high density of people and poultry.

After a visit in mid-February, FAO officials had warned that the disease would strike back.

In districts like Nadia, where the outbreak was first reported, culling was patchy with many ducks and chicken left untouched. And the repeat outbreaks in the same area show that the clean-up had not been done properly.

But the West Bengal government has said that it worked to protocol, culling over 3.9 million chicken and ducks since January.

''We have met every requirement,'' said Anis-ur-Rahman, Minister of Animal Husbandry, West Bengal.

But a worried Centre is now planning to intensify the response to the outbreak. In order to do so a meeting is scheduled at the end of this month.

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