Nepal on bird flu alert, tests poultry on India border

Nepal has issued a bird flu alert and is testing poultry along the border with India, where the virus rages despite the culling of tens of thousands of chickens since 2006, officials said.

Nepal, which has not reported any bird flu cases, banned the import of poultry from India in January. But it shares an open border with the Indian state of West Bengal which has reported repeated outbreaks of bird flu. "We are always alert, especially in the border areas which have been declared as high risk zones," Baikuntha Parajuli, chief of Nepal's animal health directorate said Tuesday. (Reuters)