My next trip is scheduled for February 18th to New Dehli India, Guangzhou and Shanghai. Nice to know I'll be safe and sound....and with a whole bunch of other people!
India swoops on homes in night raids to halt bird flu
Mon Jan 28, 2008 5:31pm IST
By Bappa Majumdar
KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - Veterinary staff in eastern India are capturing chickens in night-time raids on the backyards of homes to surprise villagers unwilling to part with their poultry as an outbreak of bird flu spread.
Bird flu has spread to 13 of West Bengal's 19 districts, with samples of dead chickens testing positive in two new districts, officials said on Monday. In neighboring Bangladesh, the disease has spread to 29 of the its 64 districts.
Experts fear the H5N1 strain found in both countries could mutate into a form easily transmitted from person to person, leading to a pandemic, but there have been no reported human infections in India yet.
"It is very difficult to contain the virus among backyard poultry as villagers hide their chickens and even smuggle it to homes of distant relatives," said Anisur Rahaman, the state's animal resources minister.
Officials said they were worried about the disease spreading to the crowded state capital, Kolkata, after bird flu hit the South 24 Parganas district on Sunday, only 20 km (12.5 miles) away from the city.
Surveillance was in place to stop infected poultry from being smuggled into one of India's biggest cities, they said.
Authorities also used loudspeakers and distributed leaflets in villages, urging people to hand over poultry to culling teams.
Villagers say government compensation of a dollar a bird was not enough.
"It's not just money, it is such a sentimental issue as villagers keep ducks and chickens as pets and also have different names to call them," Nazrul Islam of the West Bengal Poultry Association said.
West Bengal has promised to pay more money to villagers, admitting the virus could spread further if birds were not culled quickly. In Bangladesh, villagers have ignored or not heard advice on burying or burning dead birds, health officials say.
The World Health Organization has said it is India's most serious outbreak of bird flu.
Over 1.5 million birds have already been culled since the deadly H5N1 virus hit the state earlier this month.
Another half a million chickens and ducks will be slaughtered in the next few days, officials said.
The government says laboratory tests have confirmed the H5N1 strain in at least two of West Bengal's 19 districts, but said reports from 11 other districts were likely to be the same.
Authorities said the virus could have come from neighboring Bangladesh, also struggling to contain an outbreak of bird flu.
Most countries and all Indian states have banned poultry products from West Bengal. But analysts said India's outbreak was too localized to have an obvious impact on the commodities markets.
"The domestic demand for corn might go down a little because of the bird flu, but it is still early to project what impact it may have," said Anmol Sheth, President of All India Starch Manufacturers Association.
Mon Jan 28, 2008 5:31pm IST
By Bappa Majumdar
KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - Veterinary staff in eastern India are capturing chickens in night-time raids on the backyards of homes to surprise villagers unwilling to part with their poultry as an outbreak of bird flu spread.
Bird flu has spread to 13 of West Bengal's 19 districts, with samples of dead chickens testing positive in two new districts, officials said on Monday. In neighboring Bangladesh, the disease has spread to 29 of the its 64 districts.
Experts fear the H5N1 strain found in both countries could mutate into a form easily transmitted from person to person, leading to a pandemic, but there have been no reported human infections in India yet.
"It is very difficult to contain the virus among backyard poultry as villagers hide their chickens and even smuggle it to homes of distant relatives," said Anisur Rahaman, the state's animal resources minister.
Officials said they were worried about the disease spreading to the crowded state capital, Kolkata, after bird flu hit the South 24 Parganas district on Sunday, only 20 km (12.5 miles) away from the city.
Surveillance was in place to stop infected poultry from being smuggled into one of India's biggest cities, they said.
Authorities also used loudspeakers and distributed leaflets in villages, urging people to hand over poultry to culling teams.
Villagers say government compensation of a dollar a bird was not enough.
"It's not just money, it is such a sentimental issue as villagers keep ducks and chickens as pets and also have different names to call them," Nazrul Islam of the West Bengal Poultry Association said.
West Bengal has promised to pay more money to villagers, admitting the virus could spread further if birds were not culled quickly. In Bangladesh, villagers have ignored or not heard advice on burying or burning dead birds, health officials say.
The World Health Organization has said it is India's most serious outbreak of bird flu.
Over 1.5 million birds have already been culled since the deadly H5N1 virus hit the state earlier this month.
Another half a million chickens and ducks will be slaughtered in the next few days, officials said.
The government says laboratory tests have confirmed the H5N1 strain in at least two of West Bengal's 19 districts, but said reports from 11 other districts were likely to be the same.
Authorities said the virus could have come from neighboring Bangladesh, also struggling to contain an outbreak of bird flu.
Most countries and all Indian states have banned poultry products from West Bengal. But analysts said India's outbreak was too localized to have an obvious impact on the commodities markets.
"The domestic demand for corn might go down a little because of the bird flu, but it is still early to project what impact it may have," said Anmol Sheth, President of All India Starch Manufacturers Association.
Chinese snow storms strand 200,000 at station in new year exodus
Stranded passengers, many of them migrant workers, wait outside the main railway station in Guangzhou
Driving sleet, freezing temperatures and a blanket of snow across southern China have paralysed trains and aircraft, stranding tens of millions of people trying to get home for the biggest holiday in the Chinese calendar.
The worst weather in 50 years pummelled swaths of central, southern and eastern China as migrant workers and students, business travellers and officials assigned to provincial postings battled for tickets to join their families for the lunar new year holiday.
The human tide strains public transport every year even though the authorities pull dozens of extra trains into service and lay on additional flights to try to cope. With new year's day falling on February 7 this year, the bad weather has swept China just as the number of travellers is reaching its peak.
The China Meteorological Administration issued a red alert warning of more snowstorms and blizzards in central and eastern China, particularly around Shanghai, the country's commercial hub. It placed a notice on the central forecast website that said: “Cut unnecessary outdoor activities.”
