KOLKATA (Reuters) - Efforts by state authorities in east India to cull poultry to contain the latest outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus are being thwarted by poor villagers hiding their birds, officials said on Wednesday.
Hundreds of veterinary workers in protective suits were only able to kill about 250 birds after they began culling operations in the Malda district of West Bengal on Tuesday.
They have set a target of 16,500 chickens and ducks to be killed by Thursday, with owners to be compensated by the state.
"The villagers tried to hide their poultry that survived the virus," said Bishon Chowdhury, a senior local government official.
"Also, many resisted because the workers arrived without spot payments for the culled birds," he said.
Villagers and poultry farmers are being paid between 20 and 50 rupees for each bird killed, depending on its age.
Officials in West Bengal confirmed the outbreak late on Monday after tests on dead birds. Hundreds of thousands of poultry are already being culled in of Assam and neighbouring Meghalaya.
Health workers and medical experts are also monitoring about 100 villagers in and around Guwahati who had shown signs of the virus. There have been no human cases of H5N1 confirmed in India.
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