The first case of bird flu has been reported in Malda, West Bengal where a four-year-old child has tested positive. A total of 30,000 samples collected throughout the year from different parts of West Bengal are tested in the state-run Belgachia Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals.
Dr. Dipankar Majhi, West Bengal Health Department official in Malda, said, "We have held a meeting for health-related surveillance. This (bird flu case) has been discussed and no other case has come to light. There is no need to panic about this. It doesn't matter."
Thirty per cent of the samples are sent for retesting at the Bhopal-based ICAR-National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases.
Meanwhile, a team comprising senior officials of the health department and representatives of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday conducted another round of evaluation in Malda's Kaliachak.
