Massive bird cull planned in India

CALCUTTA, India, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- The government of India's West Bengal state plans to cull hundreds of thousands of birds after a recent bird flu outbreak.

To accomplish that task, a state animal resources official said the number of culling teams will be increased from 60 to 300, NDTV reported Sunday.

Some 400,000 of the birds are slated to be killed by Saturday in the Birbhum district alone, NDTV said.

Efforts have been slowed down by the requirement that a doctor accompany each team, since there is a shortage of available doctors, but the Indian Medical Association has promised to send doctors to the affected regions.

So far, no human cases of bird flu have been reported in India, Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said at a news conference Sunday.