Bangladesh: Bird Flu in ANIMALS/POULTRY Feb/6/2008-Feb/28/2008

[HenryN]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

Fowls culled in Comilla, eggs seized in Khagrachhari

Unb, Comilla


Livestock officials culled about 24,757 fowls at seven villages under Sadar upazila on Wednesday and Thursday night after detection of avian influenza.

Official sources said some chickens at Miah Bhai Poultry Farm, owned by Tofazzal Hossain, died at Jhakunipara village of the upazila on Tuesday. The dead chickens were sent to Dhaka for laboratory test.

After detection of H5N1 virus in the chickens, district livestock officials with the help of law enforcers culled 23,296 domestic and poultry chickens, 1,231 ducks, 196 pigeons and 34 swans and destroyed 8,216 eggs at seven villages under the upazila.

Our Khagrachhari correspondent reported that police yesterday seized over 17 thousand poultry eggs from Matiranga Bazar under Matiranga upazila of Khagrachhari district.

They (police) arrested poultry trader Mohammad Selim at the bazar for carrying the eggs from other districts defying ban on carrying poultry birds and eggs to and from the district.

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=23627

[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

BANGLADESH: More needs to be done to tackle bird flu

<TABLE style="BORDER-RIGHT: #bbbbbb 1px solid; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; BORDER-TOP: #cccccc 1px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 2px 5px 8px 0px; BORDER-LEFT: #cccccc 1px solid; WIDTH: 120px; PADDING-TOP: 5px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #bbbbbb 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #eeeeee" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-TOP: 3px" align=right>
Photo: David Swanson/IRIN </TD></TR><TR><TD class=ImgCreditCaption style="FONT-SIZE: 7pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Many people still do not understand the risk factors in handling chickens without proper protection</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>DHAKA, 15 February 2008 (IRIN) - With the latest outbreak of bird flu at two commercial poultry farms in Meherpur District, western Bangladesh, on 12 February, bird flu has now spread to 41 of the country?s 64 districts.

To date, close to 600,000 birds have been culled at 238 commercial farms in 82 sub-districts across the country.

Over 800 people have been tested for the deadly H5N1 virus, but no human cases have been reported so far.

"Though bird flu has spread to a great extent, we think it has not spun out of our control," Local Government Secretary Murshid Alam said.

However, M. Alauddin, chief executive officer of Dhaka city, believes efforts to cleanse it and maintain hygiene standards sufficient to prevent the virus's spread are not enough.

<TABLE style="BORDER-RIGHT: #bbbbbb 1px solid; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; BORDER-TOP: #cccccc 1px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 2px 5px 8px 0px; BORDER-LEFT: #cccccc 1px solid; WIDTH: 180px; PADDING-TOP: 5px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #bbbbbb 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #eeeeee" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-TOP: 3px" align=right>
Photo: Shamsuddin Ahmed/IRIN </TD></TR><TR><TD class=ImgCreditCaption style="FONT-SIZE: 7pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Close to 600,000 chickens across the country have been culled so far</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Lack of knowledge

Lack of knowledge on how to safely handle poultry, particularly among backyard poultry farmers, is the main problem.

?We heard about the disease only very recently. There were occasional talk shows on TV and radio, but they never said that bird flu could kill all our flocks in one night,? said Rabeya Begum, 45, of Savar who lost all her 11 chickens to the virus two weeks ago.

There is also general confusion as to where the disease comes from.

?Some say migratory birds carry the germ. Some say it comes from across the border. Some say it spreads from big poultry farms,? said Rabeya?s husband Mokhter Ali, a 50-year-old vegetable hawker.

?The local vet says we should keep our flocks shut up inside the coops. But, for how long?? he asked.

?These birds will starve to death if we do not set them free. We are poor people. We can?t buy feed for the chickens. They scavenge their own food,? he explained.

Habits that harm

In Bangladesh chickens are traditionally bought live from the market and slaughtered at home - and this presents a challenge.

After the bird?s throat is slit, it thrashes about and its blood sprinkles all over the courtyard. The blood is not washed away, nor are the remains of the bird properly disposed of. Instead, the bird is thrown away where wild birds may eat it.

Home-grown chickens generally roam about the courtyard and defecate, with residents carrying the faeces into their homes on their bare feet.

Chicken coops are generally cleaned each morning, but those cleaning them out rarely if ever cover their faces with a mask or a piece of cloth to prevent exposure to faecal dust.

Amongst the very poorest people, residents and animals, including chickens, often share the same house - and chicken faeces are either dumped in the backyard or spread over the kitchen garden as manure.

<TABLE style="BORDER-RIGHT: #bbbbbb 1px solid; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; BORDER-TOP: #cccccc 1px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 2px 5px 8px 0px; BORDER-LEFT: #cccccc 1px solid; WIDTH: 180px; PADDING-TOP: 5px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #bbbbbb 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #eeeeee" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-TOP: 3px" align=right>
Photo: Shamsuddin Ahmed/IRIN </TD></TR><TR><TD class=ImgCreditCaption style="FONT-SIZE: 7pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">A poultry worker cleaning without any protective equipment</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Other households dry the faeces in the sun and then put them into the pond as fish feed - the same ponds they use for bathing, clothes? washing and watering livestock.

A poultry worker cleaning without any protective equipment

A poultry worker cleaning without any protective equipment

Hygiene practices need to be changed

Traditional health and routine hygiene practices also need to be changed.

?We must learn to wash our hands several times a day. We must dispose of chicken faeces the same way as we dispose of human faeces,? Habibur Rahman, an eminent livestock scientist and bird flu expert, said.

?Chicken faeces are more harmful than human faeces. We must put them in concealed pits the way we do our own faeces. If we can do that then we will be able to put an end not only to bird flu, but also to a host of other diseases that we suffer from,? Rahman said.

?There has to be a persistent campaign on bird flu prevention and management,? Rahman said, adding that there was hardly a family in rural Bangladesh that did not raise a dozen or so chickens in their backyard.

?Bird flu has spread to those backyard farms. We cannot prevent the further spread of bird flu unless we can inform, motivate and mobilise the backyard farmers to take measures to prevent the disease,? said M.M. Khan, managing director of Advance Animal Science Company Limited, which specialises in bird flu research.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=76759

[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

<TABLE class=RedTableBorder style="HEIGHT: 483px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR style="PADDING-LEFT: 10px" vAlign=top><TD class=articalTitle align=middle>Thousands of birds culled as H5N1 spreads <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=430 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=dates id=hDate height=27>Published: Saturday, 16 February, 2008, 02:09 AM Doha Time</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR style="PADDING-RIGHT: 12px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px"><TD class=articalBody id=artical1 vAlign=top height=345>DHAKA: Bird flu has spread to another district in Bangladesh despite massive culling by authorities to contain the outbreak, officials said yesterday, bringing the number of affected districts to 42 out of 64.
Veterinary workers culled nearly 25,000 fowls after tests confirmed some chickens had died from the avian influenza virus in Comilla, in the south east, livestock officials said.
The H5N1 virus, first detected in Bangladesh in March last year, was quickly brought under control through aggressive measures, including culling. But it reappeared few months ago, apparently because of lax follow-up monitoring, experts say.
Officials said the government was taking measures to contain the spread of the disease, but ignorance among millions of farmers across the impoverished country remained a stumbling block.
The government has raised compensation for poultry farmers to encourage them to report and kill sick birds as part of efforts to stamp out the outbreak.
More than 600,000 birds have been culled across the country against the virus since March 2007, but it continues to spread and now covers nearly two-thirds of the country of more than 140mn people.
So far no human infections have been reported in Bangladesh, a densely populated nation with millions of backyard poultry and thousands of chicken farms.
Experts fear the H5N1 strain could mutate or combine with the highly contagious seasonal influenza virus and spark a pandemic, especially in countries such as Bangladesh where people live in close proximity to backyard poultry.
Humans usually contract the virus only after close contact with infected birds, with the virus killing nearly two-thirds of the people it infects.
The disease has killed more than 220 people worldwide since 2003. – Reuters</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=201851&version=1&template_id=44&parent_id=24

[sharon sanders]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

<table class="lan18" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="97%"><tbody><tr><td class="hei22" height="25" valign="bottom"> More than 100,000 chickens being culled in Bangladesh's capital
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</td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="97%"> <tbody><tr> <td width="48%">www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-16 20:02:09 </td> <td class="hui12" align="center" width="26%"> </td> <td class="hui12" align="center" width="12%"> Print</td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="80%"> <tbody><tr> <td height="20">
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> DHAKA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- As avian influenza continues to spread almost everyday in Bangladesh, workers of the Livestock Department Saturday started culling more than 100,000 chickens in the capital Dhaka.
This is the first detection of the avian influenza, known as bird flu, in the capital Dhaka since the virus broke out in an alarming form in March last year.
Deputy Director of the Livestock Department Salahuddin Khan said they have started culling the chickens after detection of the virus at a farm at Uttara in northern Dhaka.
He said the exact number of the chickens could be determined after completion of the culling but he said it may be over 100,000.
Local people said the farm has 165,000 chickens.
An official at the Bird Flu control room said the virus affected fowls in one more district, raising the total number of the affected districts to 43.
In the last 48 hours, 13,820 chickens, pigeons and eggs were destroyed at six farms in five districts.
Since the bird flu broke up in March last year, some 642,679 fowls were culled in the country's 43 out of 64 districts, the control room said.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/16/content_7615457.htm

[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

Bird flu update: Bird flu spreads to another district

Birds flocked Jahangir Nagar University campus. NN
photo

Staff Reporter

Bird flu has spread to another district in the country despite massive culling by authorities to contain the outbreak, said officials of Livestock yesterday, bringing the number of affected districts to 42 out of 64.

Veterinary workers culled nearly 25,000 fowls after tests confirmed some chickens had died from the avian influenza virus in Comilla, they said.

The H5N1 virus, first detected in the country in March last year, was quickly brought under control through aggressive measures, including culling. But it reappeared few months ago, apparently because of lax follow-up monitoring, said experts.

The government was taking measures to contain the spread of the disease, but ignorance among millions of farmers across the impoverished country remained a stumbling block, said officials.

The government has raised compensation for poultry farmers to encourage them to report and kill sick birds as part of efforts to stamp out the outbreak.

More than 600,000 birds have been culled across the country against the virus since March 2007, but it continues to spread and now covers nearly two-thirds of the country of more than 140 million people.

So far no human infections have been reported in the country, a densely populated nation with millions of backyard poultry and thousands of chicken farms.

Experts feared that the H5N1 strain could mutate or combine with the highly contagious seasonal influenza virus and spark a pandemic, especially in countries such as Bangladesh where people live in close proximity to backyard poultry.

Humans usually contract the virus only after close contact with infected birds, with the virus killing nearly two-thirds of the people it infects.

Our Comilla correspondent said 24,757 fowls were culled at bordering seven villages of Adarsha sadar upazila from Wednesday to Friday after detection of avian influenza.

Some chickens of Miah Bhai poultry farm, owned by Tofazzal Hossain, died in last couple of days at Jhakunipara village of the upazila and the dead chickens were sent to Dhaka for laboratory test, said district livestock officials.

After detection of H5N1 virus, a total of 23,296 domestic and poultry chickens, 1,231 ducks, 196 pigeons, 34 swans and 8,216 eggs were destroyed in seven villages. http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/200...6/news0704.htm

[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

DCC asks chicken traders to
take proper safety measures
Staff Correspondent
The Dhaka City Corporation on Friday asked poultry traders to take proper safety measures against avian influenza.
The corporation asked the traders to wear masks and gloves in dealing with chickens, have chickens slaughtered in a particular place by one or two particular persons who will maintain the safety measures, stop selling of sick chickens, drop chicken wastes into a drum and then burn them in a particular place in the markets.
The corporation?s chief executive officer Md Alauddin at a review meeting with the traders at Nagar Bhaban also urged the officials of the corporation?s health department, conservancy department, revenue department, all zonal officers and the members on zonal and central committees to increase their supervision in city kitchen
markets.
The central monitoring committee and zonal committees have been formed to ensure bio-security in city chicken markets.
The committees are supposed to coordinate the works of the zonal bird flu resistance committees, monitor the implementation of the recommendations made at the meeting held on January 26 at Nagar Bhaban and arrange workshops and hold meeting to create awareness of bird flu.
The review meeting also decided to ensure putting up banners at every kitchen market which will read: ?Do not be afraid. Keep cautious. Cooked chicken and boiled egg are harmless.?
The corporation on February 13 began putting up banners in city markets on a decision of the fisheries and livestock ministry, said a corporation official.
The meeting also urged the trader to keep dead fowls, if any, and wastes of chickens into a container to ensure bio-security of the markets.
The corporation in the past week distributed 50 containers among 50 city kitchen markets to dump chicken wastes.
A specific place has been selected to bury chicken wastes at the Matuail dump every day. The corporation?s conservancy workers are collecting the chicken wastes for dumping.
The corporation in the past week also set up a control room at Nagar Bhaban. The corporation?s chief veterinary officer, Md Azmat, heads the control room.
The corporation has requested people to call the control room by dialing 9556014 to inform it if any dead fowls have been found in any areas so that the conservancy workers can collect and bury them in the dump. http://www.newagebd.com/nat.html#1

[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

Bird watching amid flu fear
No precautionary steps for visitors' safety at JU
Emran Hossain


<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width=200 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD class=osdn-navtext>

Bird lovers, left, watch migratory birds, right, at the Brac Bank Pakhi Mela 2008 organised by the zoology department of Jahangirnagar University on the campus yesterday. The fair was held ignoring the bird flu epidemic sweeping across the country. Photo: STAR

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>A day long migratory bird watching fair was held on Jahangirnagar University (JU) campus yesterday without any precautionary measure to mitigate the chances of direct contact between visitors and the birds amid an epidemic of bird flu sweeping across the country.

The fair without any precaution took place despite warnings from the government and experts that extreme precaution should be ensured, so humans and wild birds do not come into direct contact since migratory birds are known to be carriers of avian influenza.

When asked about the lack of preventive measures, organisers said the chance of coming into contact with the birds was very little or almost negligible and they were telling the visitors to stay far away from the birds as they were also raising awareness among the visitors about bird flu.

An awareness raising pamphlet published by World Health Organisation (WHO) regional office for South East Asia however says, ?Bird Flu (avian influenza) is caused by a virus. It is present in droppings, respiratory secretions, and blood of infected birds.?

So far bird flu was detected in 37 districts of the country.

?These birds are basically shy and if disturbed they fly away at once. If an individual approaches them, the birds will definitely fly away and there is a very little chance of any direct contact,? said Dr Mofizul Kabir, associate professor of the zoology department of JU who is also the convenor of the fair management committee.

?Although we suspect that migratory birds are the prime carriers of bird flu, no evidence has so far been found confirming the claim. There is however a possibility of bird flu spreading through the migratory birds,? he added.

The fair titled 'Brac Bank Bird Fair 2008' was organised jointly by the department of zoology of JU, Wildlife Rescue Centre (WRC), Step Media Ltd, and Brac Bank, attracting a large crowd of nature-loving people from the capital and its adjacent areas including university students who were seen yesterday watching birds through telescopes or by roaming around by the lakes on the campus.

?We have heard that bird flu might spread through feathers of birds or through eggs or saliva, and it might become disastrous if people are infected with the virus through wild animals,? said Inam-ul-Haq, a prominent bird watcher, adding however that none of the cases of bird flu transmission to human body was resulted from contact with wild birds. All cases of bird flu infection around the globe were resulted from direct contact with domestic birds, he said.

Although migratory birds usually start to throng the evergreen JU campus by the end of October, this year the guest birds arrived a month later in November and since then more than six thousand migratory birds' arrival has been recorded.

Zoology department sources said around 130 to 150 species of migratory birds are usually found on the JU campus, 95 to 100 of which are local, while 35 to 40 species are foreign.

The fair began early in the morning with visitors watching guest and local birds through two telescopes and several binoculars available on the campus.

The migratory birds enter Bangladesh mostly from the Himalayas as soon as winter snow starts to fall there in October, leaving the birds' usual habitat too cold to survive. They start to fly off again in March. Only seven to ten species of the guest birds usually settle on the lakes while others are known as migratory tree birds.

Birds that come from the wetlands and highlands south of the Himalayas are know as local migrants, who usually come from Asam, Meghalaya, and Nagaland in India. Some birds also migrate internally from the hilly areas of Bangladesh while some do come from as far as Siberia and other places in Mid-East Asia.

The migratory birds include 28 Bangladeshi species which come from places such as Hakaluki and Hyle lakes, Nijhum Dwip, shoals in the Jamuna River, Tangaor swamp in Sylhet, and from Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Vice-chancellor of JU Prof Khandaker Mustahidur Rahman inaugurated the fair.

A bird sketching competition, a photography exhibition, an art competition for children, and a quiz competition on birds were also held on the sidelines. Besides, an inter-university competition on bird identification was also held. Students of different private and public universities, and of schools and colleges took part in the competitions.

Ten kiosks displaying photographs, posters, calendars, tee-shirts, and cards on birds were also set up on the path leading to the university auditorium.

The fair closed in the afternoon by holding of a seminar following which competition winners were awarded with different prizes. The yearly fair has been being held on the JU campus since 2001.

Meanwhile, as conditions of most of the lakes on the campus have become unfriendly to the birds due to the university authority's reluctance to protect the habitat of birds, the campus is attracting lesser numbers of migratory birds every year. Now migratory birds can be seen floating only on three lakes on the campus. The birds use the lakes during daytime and wander into the adjacent paddy fields near the river at night in search of food.

Study revealed that the number of migratory birds dropped due to drying up of the lakes, cultivation of napier grass in the lakes, water pollution, and lack of measures to preserve their habitat.

A survey by the Department of Zoology of JU shows that the rate of decline in the number of migratory birds to JU each year varies between 15 percent and 20 percent

Moreover, some species even completely stopped coming to the campus including Harial, which was last seen there in 2004.

The species of migratory birds that are seen in JU lakes during winter include Lesser Whistling Duck or Chhoto Sharali, Fulvous Whistling Duck or Boro Sharali, Northern Pintail or Lanja Duck, Garganey or Giria Duck, Common Till, Yellow Wagtail or Halud Khanjana, Wagtail or Khanjana, Common Sandpiper or Kada Khocha, Wood Sandpiper, Painted Snipe or Rongila Chaga, Asian Quail, another type of Painted Snipe or Badami Kashai, Comb Duck, Moor Hen, Jolpipi, Water Hen or Jolkukkut, Shuichora, and Kampakhi. http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=23620

[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

hattip helblindi Ministry of Agriculture release.
N.B. => There has been no sitrep from MOHFW for 4 days now.

BIRD FLU UPDATE
17:37 IST

There are no further reports from the HSADL, Bhopal of any sample testing positive from any part of the country, including West Bengal.

No report of any unusual mortality in any other district of West Bengal was received on 15th February, 2008.

As many as 252 Rapid Response Teams were engaged in surveillance / mopping, disinfection and sanitization operations in West Bengal. The teams engaged in mopping culled 25,559 birds taking the total of cumulative culling to 39.05 lakhs poultry birds.

The latest figures of eggs and feed destroyed till 15.02.2008 are 14,90,785 and 80,033 kg respectively.

Poultry depopulation operation in the identified zone in Assam has already been completed. In Bihar, 40% of the culling has been carried out. In Jharkhand, culling has started in 11 villages of Jamtara district on 15.02.2008. Further, 21 villages in Pakur district have also been identified as risk-prone, where culling would start shortly.

PIB Press Release

[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

More than 1 lakh poultry culled in Dhaka;birdflu continues to spread
Dhaka, Feb 16 (UNI) The Livestock Department workers today started culling nearly 1,65,000 chickens at a farm here as avian influenza continues to spread to newer poultry farms almost everyday in Bangladesh.

This is the first detection of the avian influenza known as bird flu in the capital since the virus broke out at an alarming rate in March last year.

Deputy Director of the Livestock Department Salahuddin Khan said they have started culling the chickens after detection of the virus. It may take 2-3 days since the number is big.

Though the exact number of the chickens would be known after completion of the culling but it has exceeded 100,000 till now, he said. Local people said the farm has 1,65,000 chickens.

An official at the Bird Flu control room said the virus affected fowls in one more district raising the total number of the affected districts to 43. In the last 48 hours, 13,820 chickens, pigeons and eggs were destroyed at six farms in five districts.

Since the bird flu broke up in March last year, some 6,42,679 fowls were culled in the country's 43 out of 64 districts, the control room said.

http://www.deepikaglobal.com/ENG4_sub.asp?ccode=ENG4&newscode=14425

Laidback Al will soon need a new marker to make his maps ..or maybe a paint brush!Bdesh is ready to pop and I mean humans. Nowhere in the world has it gotten this bad and no humans were infected...cept maybe China

[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

Helblindi WHO SEAR Office update

Avian Influenza
Situation in Bangladesh

15 Febraury 2008 - Bangladesh

As of 13 February 2008, the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Government of Bangladesh, reported that culling of poultry has taken place in 252 farms, spread over 41 districts. (Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayangonj, Tangail, Jamalpur, Jessore, Noakhali, Gaibandha, Magura, Rajbari, Nilfamari, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Joypurhat, Lalmonirhat, Thakurgaon, Naogaon, Bogra, Feni, Pabna, Kurigram, Moulvibaza, Barisal, Barguna, Rajshahi, Natore, Patuakhali, Netrokona, Bhola, Kulna, Manikgonj, Gopalgonj, Mymensigh, Sylhet, Kustia, Jhinaidah, Norsingdhi, Bagerhat, Chittagong, Kishoreganj and Meherpur). Of these, 145 farms have confirmed H5 virus infection. A total of 603,623 chickens have been culled. No human cases have been reported.

WHO SEARO release

[HenryN]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

Bird flu spreads to another Bangladesh district
17 Feb 2008 10:55:39 GMT
<!-- 17 Feb 2008 10:55:39 GMT ## for search indexer, do not remove -->Source: Reuters

<!-- AN5.0 article title end --><SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="/bin/js/article.js"></SCRIPT></SPAN><INPUT id=CurrentSize type=hidden value=13 name=CurrentSize> <!-- Bird flu spreads to another Bangladesh district --><!-- Reuters -->DHAKA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Bird flu has spread to another district in Bangladesh despite massive culling by authorities to control the outbreak, officials said on Sunday, bringing the number of affected districts to 43 out of 64.
The new case of the avian influenza was found in Shariatpur, in the southwest, livestock officials said.
The outbreak occured as health workers culled more than 160,000 chickens at a poultry farm in the capital Dhaka following detection of the bird flu virus.
"This will be the biggest number of poultry birds to be culled at a single farm since the outbreak of the deadly virus," said Salehuddin Khan, a director of the livestock department.
More than 600,000 birds have been culled across the country against the virus since March 2007, but it continues to spread and now covers nearly two-thirds of the country of more than 140 million people partly due to a lack of awareness.
No human infections have been reported in Bangladesh, a densely populated nation with millions of backyard poultry and thousands of chicken farms.
The government has enhanced compensation for poultry farmers to encourage farmers to report and kill sick birds as part of efforts to stamp out the outbreak.
Authorities also used loudspeakers and distributed leaflets in villages, urging people to report sick fowls and bury dead birds.
Experts fear the H5N1 strain could mutate or combine with the highly contagious seasonal influenza virus and spark a pandemic, especially in countries such as Bangladesh where people live in close proximity to backyard poultry. (Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DHA269162.htm

<!-- news ## for search indexer, do not remove -->

[HenryN]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

Bird Flu Related Information up to 16 February, 2008

1. No. of Farms with confirmed H5 Virus 152
2. No. of Districts with Confirmed H5 Virus 43
(Upzilla-78, Metro Thana-12)

( Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayangonj, Tangail, Jamalpur, Jessore, Noakhali, Gaibandha, Magura, Rajbari, Nilphamari, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Jaipurhat, Lalmonirhat, Thakurgaon, Naogaon, Bagura, Feni, Pabna, Kurigram, Moulvibazar, Barisal, Rajshahi, Barguna, Natore, Patuakhali, Netrokona, Bhola, Khulna, Manikgonj, Gopalgonj, Mymensingh, Sylhet, Kustia, Jhinaidah, Norsingdhi, Bagerhat, Chittagong, Kishoregonj, Meherpur, Comilla, Shariatpur)

3. No. of Culled Farms 265

(Dhaka-35 (Savar-26, Turagh-01, Demra-01, Mirpur-03, Shabujbagh-01, Lalbagh-01, Nobabgonj-02), Gazipur-07, Jamalpur-06, Narayangonj-16, Tangail-02, Jessore-11, Noakhali-02, Gaibandha-04, Magura-01, Rajbari-03, Nilphamari-11, Dinajpur-29, Rangpur-06, jaipurhat-04, Lalmonirhat-04, Thakurgaon-02, Naogaon-02, Bagura-02, Feni-08, Pabna-04, Kurigram-01, Moulvibazar-01, Barisal-02, Barguna-16, Rajshahi-03, Natore-01, Patuakhali-01, Netrokona-01, Bhola-08, Manikgonj-03, Mymensingh-03, Gopalgonj-01, Khulna-14, Sylhet-01, Jhinaidah-04, Kustia-01, Norsingdhi-21, Bagerhat-02, Chittagong-08, Kishoregonj-05, Meherpur-02, Comilla-06, Shariatpur-01)

4. Culled on 16/02/2008 ---

5. Culling up to 16/02/2008 6, 42, 679

http://www.mofl.gov.bd/daily_birdflu_report.pdf

[HenryN]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

Official: Workers slaughter more birds after bird flu virus spreads to Bangladesh's capital

The Associated Press
Sunday, February 17, 2008
DHAKA, Bangladesh: Health workers in Bangladesh's capital prepared to slaughter 150,000 birds Sunday after the bird flu virus was detected in the city for the first time, an official said.
The dangerous H5N1 strain of the virus was found in chickens at a farm in a suburb of Dhaka, a bustling city of 10 million people, said Mohammad Salahuddin Ahmed, Director of Administration of the official Directorate of Livestock.
He said that more than 100 workers were ordered to kill the 150,000 chickens at the Omega Poultry Farm.
"This is the first case in the capital city," Ahmed said. "We are very cautious so that the virus can't spread to local neighborhoods."
Bird flu has spread to 42 of Bangladesh's 64 districts since it was first detected in February last year. More than 600,000 birds have been slaughtered so far across the country, according to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock.
No cases of human infection have been reported.
Bangladesh recently tightened controls along its porous border with India, with authorities ordering officials to block all imports of poultry and eggs from that country.
Experts say any widespread outbreak could be disastrous for Bangladesh because of its dense population and poorly equipped public health care system.
There are many poultry farms in overcrowded neighborhoods across the country.
Bangladesh's growing poultry industry is made up of about 150,000 farms and has an annual turnover of about US$750 million (€510 million).

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[HenryN]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

1.6 lakh chickens to be culled from single farm in Dhaka

Dhaka (PTI): Livestock authorities in Bangladesh began culling around 1.6 lakh chickens at a major poultry farm in the capital after the detection of bird flu, which has spread to 42 of the country's 64 administrative districts since its detection in March last year, officials said on Sunday.
Officials said they would need at least two days to cull the entire flock in the farm.
"This would be the highest number of poultry birds to be culled at a single farm since the outbreak of the avian influenza," chief livestock officer Dr Salahuddin Khan told PTI.
So far, more than six lakh chickens have been culled in various affected areas of the country, he said.
Wearing safety robes, livestock workers started culling chickens at the automated Omega Poultry Farm Limited at Badda area of Dhaka late yesterday. Staff first suspected bird flu infection on February 10 when 20 chickens suddenly died.
"It alarmed us all because, usually, no more than one or two chickens die a day. And the number of deaths doubled a couple of days later," the farm's owner Alif Ahmed Khan said. Salahuddin Khan, however, said the outbreak of the disease appeared to be lessening in the country with officials reporting only one case of avian influenza from the southeastern port city of Chittagong, while "previously we used to receive five to six such cases everyday".

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus...0802171329.htm<!-- story ends -->

[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

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Bird flu attacks city?s biggest poultry farm


Some 642,679 fowls have been culled in the country's 43 districts out of 64


Sunday February 17 2008 00:59:28 AM BDT


The workers of Livestock Department yesterday started destroying over 165,000 chickens at a farm near Uttara in the city as report said that avian influenza, virus of bird flu, continued to spread to newer poultry farms almost everyday across the(New NationBD)

country.Meanwhile, according to the Bird Flu Control Room, the virus affected fowls in one more district, raising number of the affected districts to 43. The new district is Shariatpur.

This was the first detection of the avian influenza in the capital city since the virus disease of birds broke out in an alarming form in March last year.

Salauddin Khan, Deputy Director of Livestock Department, said, "We started culling the chickens after detection of the virus. Exact number of the chickens could be known after completion of the culling. But it is more than one lakh." "There is no poultry farm within one kilometer of the affected farm, named Omega Poultry Farm, owned by Al-Amin," he said.

Meanwhile, local residents claimed that the farm has 165,000 chickens.

Hundreds of local people gathered around the farm in Beraid Union under Badda police station to see the demolition operation, said the local witnesses.

Some 13,820 chickens, pigeons and eggs had been destroyed at six farms in five districts - two in Narsingdi and one each in Shariatpur, Jhenidah, Gazipur sadar and port of Narayanganj.

Since the bird flu, an epidemic affecting many Asian countries in particular-spread in the country since in March last year, some 642,679 fowls have been culled in the country's 43 districts out of 64, according to the statistics given from the control room.

Meanwhile, our Narsingdi correspondent said Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser Manik Lal Samaddar yesterday distributed cheques among the affected owners of farms in Raipura and Belabo upazilas in Narsingdi.

Manik Lal distributed cheque of Tk 12,57,955 to 12 farm owners at Batiara High School in Raipura upazila.

Zillar Rahman, DC of Narsingdi, chaired the function, while Syed Ataur Rahman, Secretary of Agriculture Resource Ministry, Sunil Chandra Ghosh, Director General of Agriculture Resource Department, Shahabuddin Khan, police super, Maj AKM Sadekul Islam, deputy commander of Army camp, owners of various farms, were present on the occasion.

http://bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidRecord=187935