Bird flu virus flies into India, first cases reported

Press Trust of India
Hindustan Times
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Mumbai, Maharashtra (India):
In the first outbreak of bird flu in India, eight people were on Saturday admitted to a hospital with suspected deadly avian virus after 50,000 birds had died in Nandurbar and Dhule districts of Maharashtra.As the presence of virus was confirmed, about two lakh chickens were slaughtered and buried in the two districts.
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See Also:
India Reports First Case of Bird Flu
Dead duck ignites French fears as bird flu spreads
Deadly bird flu spreads to Egypt
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The High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal, where poultry samples were sent, confirmed that eight of them had strains of H5N1 virus that had claimed nearly 100 lives in east Asia a few years ago.
With the threat of the spread of virus growing, the authorities ordered slaughtering of the poultry in the three km radius around the poultry farms in Navapur where the confirmed cases were detected.
At least eight persons were admitted to government hospital in Navapur and about 80 blood samples were sent to laboratory for test, health officials said in Dhule, health officials said.
feb 18, 2006