Apprehensions of bird flu having infected humans in West Bengal were found to be baseless on Monday after blood samples of eight sick persons hailing from the virus-hit South Dinajpur and Birbhum districts tested negative at the laboratory of the National Institute of Communicable Disease(NICD), New Delhi.
“We received a report from the NICD director saying that the samples of blood of eight sick persons sent to New Delhi, tested negative,” state animal husbandry resources minister Anisur Rahman said here.
“Even the NICD's Kolkata branch which tested five samples reported the results as negative for the presence of the H5N1 virus. Despite this, we are on high alert,” Rahman stressed.
