Nepal’s poultry industry is being devastated by H5N1 bird flu.  As of February 12, 2012, 8,353 chickens have been killed in just one district.

Jhapa, Nepal, has seen 3,500 chickens die from H5N1, and another 4,853 put down in an effort to stop the virus, in the past two weeks.  Also, 2,400 eggs were destroyed along with 140 kg (308.6 pounds) of chicken feed.

The local government says they’re on top of the situation: “The influenza control team has sped up its work. The outbreak would be controlled very soon. We have deployed rapid response team…”-Radheshyam Mandal, Veterinary Service Center of Jhapa

H5N1 is also hitting other districts of Nepal.

To make matters worse for those living in Jhapa, wild elephants have been terrorizing farmers.  Farmers and armed Forest Security personnel have been trying to chase off the elephants. 

In some areas farmers have taken to a kind of Neighborhood Watch, where they patrol each others farms and villages, on the look out for wild elephants.  They say the government is not protecting them: “Nothing has been done except following the tuskers. Elephant terror is on the rise in the village.”-Dipendra Katawal

I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.