Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Violence greets culling team in West Bengal

On Tuesday morning, a 10-member team of the Animal Resources Development department were attacked by angry farmers in West Bengal's bird flu hit Murshidabad district where they were to begin culling poultry suspected of having H5N1. Culling has been taking place in the District since February 22.

Angry villagers injured five of the team members after blocking them from culling poultry in the quarantine area. The district minister said the team was accompanied by two homeguards, but they fled the scene when the attack began. "Five of the injured were taken to the primary health centre where they were discharged after first aid," the District Minister said Tuesday.

After two weeks of continuous culling, 700,000 birds set to be culled remain. Culling in the area has been suspended but is expected to start again on Friday, February 29.

Full Story via H5N1 blog: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kolkata/Culling_team_members_beaten_up_five_injured_in_Murshidabad/articleshow/2817332.cms

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