The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, New Delhi

A fresh outbreak of bird flu in poultry has been reported from an eastern Indian state, officials said on Sunday, a month after authorities there said they had contained the virus.

The outbreak, the fifth in India since 2006, has been reported from two villages of West Bengal state's Murshidabad district, officials said.

"We are worried that bird flu has returned to West Bengal because the outbreak seemed to be under control," Anisur Rahman, West Bengal's animal resources minister told Reuters on Sunday.

In January, the H5N1 virus affected 13 of the state's 19 districts, including Murshidabad. The strain of the latest virus was still being tested, but Rahaman said preliminary checks have indicated the H5N1 strain.

More than 3.4 million birds were culled during the last outbreak, which the World Health Organization (WHO) described as the worst-ever in India.