Authorities in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal say they have identified the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in thousands of dead chickens.
Tests on poultry from two villages around Englishbazar town in the Maldah district have returned positive results, a health official said.
He “few thousand” birds in the area will be slaughtered, he said.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu is regarded as highly pathogenic and can also cause disease and death in humans.
Bird flu has returned to West Bengal after an outbreak in 14 districts of the state in January this year.
Separately, authorities in the north-eastern state of Assam say they have finished culling of more than 300,000 chickens and ducks to control the spread of bird flu in the state.
Poultry in seven districts in the state have turned up cases of bird flu.
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There is an argument that it is inevitable that there will be another pandemic influenza that will far surpass that which occurred in 1918, because of the density of modern living. During the pandemic of 1918, people died within 2 days of contracting the virus. The argument goes that this time around, it probably will start in Asia. Its progression: from poultry to the swine population, which then can be easily transmitted to humans.