Indian health officials went door-to-door yesterday searching for people possibly sickened by the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, while hundreds of German troops disposed of dead chickens in a desperate attempt to contain the fast-moving disease. The European Union's agriculture ministers, meanwhile, met to discuss ways to combat bird flu - such as vaccinating poultry - as the H5N1 strain spread to a half dozen EU nations.

Nearly 250 German troops cleared away dead birds from the Baltic island of Ruegen, where the country's first cases of the disease were confirmed in wild birds last week. Meanwhile, inspectors visited homes and farms surrounding Navapur, a town of 30,000 people, searching for signs of illness and making sure even chickens being raised at private homes were killed and properly disposed of.

"It's like a war - they come in completely covered with masks and goggles," said Ghulam Vhora, a member of a poultry farmers' association.

PHOTO CAPTION

A chicken is seen at a village near Kuala Lumpur February 21, 2006. (REUTERS)