The state animal resource development (ARD) department is yet to send samples of dead poultry birds to laboratories for confirmation of avian influenza virus at a time when deaths of hundreds of chickens are being reported from several parts of the state.

Sources in the ARD department said that hundreds of chickens are dying in Jhargram, North 24-Parganas and South 24 Parganas showing a fresh fear of bird flu as well as avian flu that had severely affected poultry industry by around Rs 500 crore in 2008.

More than 40 lakh dead poultry birds were culled in the state during that period. A senior official of the state-run Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL) at Belgachia said that no samples of dead chickens from the affected areas like Diamond Harbour, Baduria, Jhargram and several other places in the state have been brought so far in the laboratory to confirm the bird flu.

“It’s mandatory to conduct laboratory tests on samples of carcasses to verify the presence of bird flu virus when deaths of huge number of birds are reported,” the official said requesting anonymity.

“Considering the prevention and control of the avian influenza, the laboratory test on dead birds is a must. Few samples of carcasses should also be sent to the central government-run High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal to get it confirmed further,” said Dr J L Chakraborty, former ARD director and an animal scientist.

“There is nothing to be worried about the deaths of poultry birds in some parts of the state,” said captain A G Bandopadhyay. “I can’t comment anything without verifying your identity,” he said when this correspondent wanted to know if any tests on samples of dead chickens have been done at the Belgachia RDDL to confirm bird flu.

“I won’t comment anything on this and you please talk to captain Bandopadhyay,” said Dr Bidyut Roy, additional director of animal health, shifting his responsibility to the ARD director.

“The ARD department had sent the blood samples to the HSADL in Bhopal for confirmation of H5N1 virus that causes bird flu without any delay during the outbreak in 2008. I think the ARD department should be active enough to conduct tests at the RDDL to check the presence of the virus among poultry birds. The bird flu outbreak had ravaged the state affecting chickens in lakhs particularly in February-March about a decade ago,” an ARD official said.