Two culling team members down with influenza

Two members of a culling team in bird flu-hit South 24-Parganas district have been admitted to a hospital with symptoms of influenza.

Two members of a culling team in bird flu-hit South 24-Parganas district have been admitted to a hospital with symptoms of influenza even as killing of diseased poultry continued in the affected districts of the state on Monday.

Both the patients were members of a team engaged in culling at Budge Budge in the district.

Tarak Nath Haldar was admitted to M S Bangur hospital while Mohd Azizul Rahman was admitted to Budge Budge Rural Hospital on Sunday, Chief Medical Officer Health, Sachidananda Sarkar said in Monday.

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While blood samples of Haldar had been given for testing, a team from Bangur hospital would go to Budge Budge for taking blood samples of Rahman, he said.

He said Haldar was suffering from fever, headache and body ache. Doctors were monitoring his condition to ascertain whether he had developed any respiratory problem as the fever could take a turn towards pneumonia, Sarkar said.

He said as of now there were no reports of human deaths from bird flu in the country.

Meanwhile, 12 more culling teams were sent to Canning II block where fresh culling had been taken up yesterday with ten teams already operating in the area, official sources said.

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Culling is being done in a 5 km radius from Sarengabad gram panchayat, including five in Canning II block and two In Bhangar block, sources said. Culling is also being taken up in Minakha block in North 24-Parganas adjoining Sarengabad in Debital and Malia mouzas, the sources said, Police are accompanying the culling teams in the door-to-door culling operations.