According to the district administration, 40 RRTs are being prepared for the culling operations. The administration is procuring specialised suits and gloves and arranging medical teams to tackle the situation.

Interestingly, ARD officials pointed at Bangladesh as the source for the outbreak. “Many villagers visit their relatives in Bangladesh during the festive season and exchange domestic and backyard poultry. When the avian flu broke out in January there was a festival and now it was Durga Puja and Diwali. These are the probabilities as we are yet to find out the root cause,” said Chakraborty.

In January, avian flu had broken out in Margram, Birbhum and spread to almost all districts of south and north Bengal. The state incurred a loss of 500 crores due to the menace which continued till September.