By Kamil Zaheer

NEW DELHI, April 17 (Reuters) - India has told its border guards to prevent people illegally bringing in poultry from Bangladesh as part of a heightened vigil against bird flu, a top official said on Tuesday.

New Delhi has increased surveillance for avian influenza after three of its neighbours -- Bangladesh and Myanmar on its east and Pakistan on the west -- reported outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus over the past two months.

Special attention is being given to the porous 4,000-km (2,500-mile) border with Bangladesh, which has culled 79,000 chickens in eight districts to prevent bird flu from spreading.

"We have spoken to the Border Security Force and the Home Ministry saying no informal trade with Bangladesh should be allowed and to stop people carrying poultry or meat products from Bangladesh," Indian Animal Husbandry Secretary Charusheela Sohoni told Reuters.

Hundreds of people cross the frontier into India daily from impoverished Bangladesh and informal trade is common.

India, which declared itself free of bird flu last August after outbreaks in poultry, has asked officials and poultry farmers in states bordering Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan to monitor any unusual mortality among chickens or ducks.

"We are naturally keeping a close watch on our neighbours," Sohoni said. "There is no cause for alarm. We are prepared and are confident we will be able to tackle an outbreak if it occurs."

MORE TESTS

She said the animal husbandry department had stepped up poultry testing in recent weeks, especially in areas near Bangladesh and Myanmar and had roped in local village leaders to monitor poultry.

Officials were also distributing leaflets in the border regions, asking people to remain alert for bird flu and increasing the number of TV spots on the issue.

"Backyard poultry poses some problems as it is scattered but our information distribution has improved," Sohoni said.

India has around 490 million chickens, the biggest component by far of its poultry industry. Backyard poultry account for 40 percent of the sector.

New Delhi was praised by international agencies for its handling of the bird flu outbreaks in western India last year, especially its quick compensation to farmers and poultry farms that were affected.

It culled 1 million poultry birds to contain the outbreaks.

Pakistan reported H5N1 cases this month in commercial poultry farms while Myanmar has reported several outbreaks since February.

Sohoni said India had tested around 90,000 blood and other samples such as tissues from poultry and other birds since last April. It had also ensured samples could reach laboratories from outbreak sites faster.

"Bird flu is there on both our borders so we have to be very vigilant," she said.

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