Bird flu virus deliberately introduced in India?
Monday February 20 2006 00:00 IST

NEW DELHI: The government's announcement of bird flu deaths in Maharashtra has created an unnecessary panic and how the virus arrived in a remote place like Nandurbar needs “detailed investigations,” including the possibility of deliberate introduction, according to a leading virologist.

Meanwhile health ministry officials investigating the episode told PTI that Newcastle virus - that causes similar symptoms like bird flu - has also been isolated from the dead birds lending credence to the poultry industry claims that the deaths were not entirely due to bird flu.

“I am worried and surprised about the whole thing,” says Kalyan Banerjee, former director of the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune who is also a member of the government committee advising about bio terrorism.

Transmission of flu from birds to humans is very difficult and the fears have been over blown, Banerjee told PTI in a telephone interview. The 90-odd persons in some 30 countries who have so far died of this virus were bird handlers and no single

Human-to-human transmission has taken place. The commercial angle to the whole bird flu business “should be looked at very carefully,” says Banerjee who is one of many scientists who believe that what struck Surat in 1994 was not plague. ...