Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- India will cull as many as 2.7 million chickens by Jan. 30 to rein in bird flu, as the disease spread to 13 of 19 districts in West Bengal state.

Authorities culled 1.9 million chickens as of yesterday after the outbreak was reported earlier this month in the eastern state, federal Animal Husbandry Secretary Pradeep Kumar said in New Delhi today.

``We're keeping our fingers crossed about containing the disease,'' Kumar said. ``There's a need to convince people about the necessity of culling.''

As many as 125,283 poultry birds died in the state after the outbreak, Kumar said. The decline in the natural mortality of the birds because of avian influenza is a ``good sign,'' he said.

Rainfall in the state had prevented the culling of potentially infected birds, Kumar said. The government will give importance to the ``mopping up and disinfection'' operation once the culling is over, Kumar said.

Bird flu outbreaks in more than a dozen countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East show the virus is spreading among poultry and may still evolve into a human pandemic strain, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization said last week.

The World Health Organization has recorded 352 human H5N1 cases since 2003. Of those, 219 were fatal. The Geneva-based U.N. agency says millions of people could die in case of a pandemic.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bibhudatta Pradhan in New Delhi at bpradhan@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 28, 2008 10:04 EST