Hundreds of birds in the Murshidabad district of India’s West Bengal state died of H5N1 avian influenza in early January, leading to the culling of more than 3,200 poultry, reported The Times of India.
The neighboring nation of Bhutan has stopped all imports from the state and border guards are searching people who cross the border for chicken or eggs, according to Kuensel Online, a Bhutanese news Web site. This new import ban comes just six months after a previous ban ended in July 2009.
A Bhutanese agricultural official said the earliest the ban would be lifted is in three months. According to Bhutanese government figures, the country imports about 50,000 kilograms of frozen chicken and about 8,000 cartons of eggs from India each month, and about 1,500 kilograms of fresh poultry from West Bengal and other border states.
