- GAUHATI, India (AP) -- Some
1500 pigeons at a Hindu temple in northeastern India have dropped dead
in the past six days, a priest said today, but veterinarians deny the mystery
disease could be a strain of avian flu.
-
- "The birds get disoriented all of a sudden, start
rolling their heads, fall to the ground and then die," said Bholanath
Sarma, a priest at the hilltop Kamakhya Temple at Gauhati, capital of Assam
state.
-
- Abdul Mukit, a government veterinarian dealing with the
crisis, said the pigeons may be suffering from a bacterial infection due
to exposure to the cold.
-
- No cases of the avian flu have been reported in India,
including the country's northeast, which borders China, Burma, Bhutan and
Bangladesh.
-
- However, as a precaution, authorities in the seven northeastern
states have ordered border guards to ban the import or smuggling of poultry
and poultry products from across the borders.
-
- At least 10 Asian countries and territories have been
hit by an avian flu outbreak, which has killed 22 people in Thailand and
Vietnam. Some 100 million birds have died or culled to battle the disease.
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- Copyright 2003 News Limited.
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- http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,8794987%255E1702,00.html
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