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Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+
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Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat
Bird flu in Bangladesh, 22,000 chickens culledDhaka, Feb 2 (Xinhua) At least 22,000 chickens from eight poultry farms were culled Saturday in Bangladesh after detection of the bird flu virus.
<SMALL>Irish Sun
Saturday 2nd February, 2008
(IANS)</SMALL>
Livestock officials conducted culling operations in Savar town, 30 km north of capital Dhaka, private news agency UNB reported.
According to reports, an owner of a poultry sent samples to the local livestock research centre for tests after some of his chicken died Wednesday.
When the bird flu was confirmed nearly 1,550 chickens of the farm were culled Friday night.
Livestock department officials culled around 22,000 chickens of eight other farms located within one kilometre of the affected farm.
The bird flu virus has affected 29 of the 64 districts in the country and hundreds of thousands of chickens have been culled since the virus was detected March last year.
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Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat
27,478 fowls culled in Dinajpur, 11,000 die in Kushtia
DINAJPUR, Feb 1: Over 27,478 chickens and ducks were culled and 60,427 eggs destroyed in Sadar upazila here on Thursday-Friday after the detection of avian influenza, reports UNB.
District Livestock officer Dr Sydur Rahman said as several hundred chickens died in the poultry farm of Maniruzzaman last week they collected the samples of dead chickens and sent those to Joypurhat and Savar for laboratory test.
AS bird flu virus was detected in the chickens some 27,478 chickens, 37 ducks and five pigeons of one kilometer area were culled and the eggs destroyed.
An emergency meeting will be held at Deputy Commissioner''s conference room on Saturday to check the spread of the bird flu virus, official sources said.
In Kushtia, some 11,000 fowls of a poultry farm at Barkhada village in Sadar upazila died of mysterious disease Friday.
Ataur Rahman, owner of Agro Poultry Hatcheries, said that he informed local livestock office today following the death.
Receiving information, upazila livestock officer Enayet Hossain and veterinary surgeon Dinbandhu Saha visited the farm, collected samples of deceased fowls and sent these to Savar for test.
The livestock officials could not ascertain the reason for death of fowls.
Meanwhile, local Deputy Commissioner Nurul Islam at a recent meeting with owners of poultry farm and hatchery called upon all not to spread unnecessary panic about bird flu.
Another report adds: The poultry industry needs to be declared as an emergency sector immediately to save the country''s huge poultry farmers from an impending disaster, experts said Friday.
They voiced the concern as the booming poultry industry has been struck by avian influenza that reportedly infiltrated into the country from neighbouring West Bengal.
"Thousands of poultry farmers have been compelled to shut down their farms following a sharp fall in the prices of poultry products after the reported attack by avian influenza. Now this sector should be declared as emergency sector to save the lakhs of farmers," president of World Poultry Science Association, Bangladesh Chapter Moshiur Rahman told the media.
He said, "No one has so far died after eating poultry eggs or chicks, but people have got panicked after the media reports on outbreak of bird flu virus among poultry chicks in Bangladesh."
Moshiur Rahman said poultry traders have set up 11 check posts across the country from where medicines are being sprayed on poultry eggs and chicks before they are sent to markets.
"Only setting up of check posts or spraying medicines on the poultry products or culling the poultry birds cannot help. People must also be made aware that avian influenza will not inflict them if they eat chicks and eggs after boiling them adequately," he said.
Livestock expert Dr Manjur Aziz urged the government to consider the poultry industry as the top most priority sector as employment of thousands of farmers is at stake.
"The poultry industry has the potentials to steer Bangladesh towards rapid economic progress like the garment and shrimp industries. Now this booming sector is facing a severe threat following the avian influenza attack. The government should take adequate efforts to tackle the threat effectively," he said.
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Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat
Narinjara News: Burma bans Bangladesh poultry
Fri 1 Feb 2008
Filed under: News, Health / AIDS
Burmese health officials have banned the import of poultry from Bangladesh after the H4N1 virus has been found spreading among birds there recently, reports a police officer.
?The official from the livestock and cure department in Maungdaw issued a notice prohibiting any kinds of domestic animals or related equipment being imported from Bangladesh. We received the statement yesterday from the department,? he said.
The authorities have banned all poultry animals, including chickens, ducks, and eggs, as well as animal foods from being imported from Bangladesh. Border authorities have been put on high alert to prevent poultry products from entering the country.
Burma does not typically import poultry from Bangladesh, but the authority has banned poultry imports out of fear of the bird flu spreading in Burma, the police officer said.
A border source said, ?Indeed many poultry animals have been exported to Bangladesh from Burma for many years, but some local people in the border area have imported poultry and animal foods from Bangladesh.?
The bird flu is now spreading menacingly in Burma?s western neighbor, with many chickens being culled in several districts in Bangladesh, according to official reports.
Some 326,844 chickens from 93 poultry farms in 29 districts and six metropolitan areas were culled by the Bangladesh Livestock Department in the last few days.
The worst areas of the outbreak are located in Bangladesh?s southwest near India.
The Bangladesh government has taken steps to combat the spread of avian influenza and it?s top priority is to wipe out the deadly disease.
http://www.burmanet.org/news/2008/02...adesh-poultry/Comment
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Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" bgColor=#3366cc border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=updatetime align=middle>Sunday, February 3, 2008 06:07 AM GMT+06:00 </TD><TD class=volnum align=right width=100></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=60>Clockwise: A seller without gloves or mask at a kitchen market, dangerous de-feathering on at Karwan Bazar and health workers spraying disinfectant on chickens at a poultry shop. Photo: STAR
</TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=newspath></TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=newsdetails vAlign=top>Click here for Printer Friendly Version
Star City
Bird flu: Time to raise alarm
Shahnaz Parveen
<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width=200 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD class=osdn-navtext></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Bird flu might take a very risky turn in the urban areas, especially Dhaka city, if proper measures are not taken at the right time. Consumers and poultry sellers of the city are not at all prepared to handle the alarming situation, experts warned.
Dense population, unhygienic market condition and lack of proper protective measures during poultry handling and meat processing pose serious health hazards for the city dwellers.
The experts also pointed out lax monitoring of the market, and lack of awareness among the poultry sellers and customers about the fatality of the killer disease.
Prof Mahmudur Rahman, director, Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) said, ?Dhaka city is extremely vulnerable especially because of the dense population and close living quarters, which increases potential for any virus transmission.?
?If infected poultry birds are transported to the city regularly with the current unhygienic condition of our kitchen markets and practice of poultry processing, it would be a very hard task to contain the situation if the deadly disease strikes,? he warned.
?When a case of infection is identified, all chickens around one square kilometre area have to be destroyed, which is literally impossible in Dhaka city,? the professor said.
According to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, so far bird flu has been detected in around 27 farms in Dhaka including Demra, Peelkhana, Lalbagh, Sabujbah, Mirpur and Savar. Besides, there are five such farms in Gazipur, which are not far from the capital.
Around 1.75 lakh to 2 lakh chickens are consumed in the city every day. To meet the need of the city consumers, truckloads of chickens arrive at night in the city's main wholesale markets at Kaptanbazar, Karwan Bazar, Nimtali, New Market, Sipahibag and Mirpur section-1 from across the country. Business transaction in these markets takes place at night.
During a visit to the city's main kitchen markets, Karwan Bazar, New Market, Hatirpul and Mirpur section-1, this correspondent found signs of cleanliness efforts but it seems not enough to deal with the possible dangerous situation. Smaller kitchen markets in various neighbourhoods in and around the city are not getting any attention.
Live chickens are still kept in a very unhygienic condition in the markets. Faeces, feathers, blood and other wastes are left at the markets in a scattered manner. Mechanised de-feathering is still going on. These are all major conditions for spreading germs, experts said.
Despite campaign in the media, poultry sellers and the owners and employees of poultry farms still lack basic knowledge of how to handle a situation involving bird flu.
Most of them are still oblivious of the fatality involving bird flu. Sellers said they hard about it but does not think it is serious. Some think it is all a hoax. Not a single sellers and workers were found wearing protective mask or gloves.
?If I wear mask my customers will think my chickens must be infected otherwise why would I be protecting myself? I don't want to scare away all my customers,? said Mohammad Billal Hossain, a poultry seller at Karwan Bazar sitting right beside a pile of faeces and feathers.
Another poultry seller Amzad Hossain said, ?We heard about bird flu last year. We had bad business just for a few days and then it all got normal. I haven't seen anyone falling sick after getting near a chicken so far.?
These are a few comments made by poultry sellers in the city at a time when the authorities have issued alert in parts of the country to tackle Avian Influenza.
Professor Rahman advised, ?To reduce human exposure to the virus it is most important to wear facemasks and gloves during the handling of poultry and poultry products.?
Kitchen markets must be cleaned with disinfectants two times a day and poultry wastes have to be buried or burned. Poultry handlers in the market or at home must wash their hands several times. But these important things are still not being followed by sellers or customers.
Meanwhile, the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC), responsible for monitoring all city kitchen markets, has instructed that no live chicken be sold at the markets. Sellers were instructed to process meat in a separate corner of the market and keep that corner clean all the time, which is hardly being followed anywhere in the city.
Dr Md Azmat Ali, the chief veterinary officer of DCC, however said, ?Without proper law this rule cannot be enforced. Besides, kitchen markets in Dhaka do not have proper infrastructures to follow such measures.?
?For now DCC can only try the self-motivation programme so that the sellers play their own part. We had a discussion with poultry sellers of the city on January 26 about how to deal with possible bird flu situation,? he added.
DCC has also prohibited mobile poultry vendors from selling poultry in the city's residential areas in a bid to control contamination. However, selling and buying from vendors is going on undisturbed in the residential areas.
Both the vendors and their customers mostly belonging to the underprivileged segment ignore any measures. Slum dwellers are in fact consuming chickens more than ever as the vendors are offering chicken at a reduced price.
Because of the bird flu situation price of broiler chicken has decreased in the market. Price of one kilo was around Tk 90 before the outbreak and now it sells at around Tk 60. People are opting for local breeds thinking that it is safer. This has increased the price of local breeds.
Azmat Ali said, ?It would be completely wrong to assume that local breeds will be safer. In the kitchen markets all the chickens are kept in a crammed condition increasing the possibility of spreading the disease to all the birds.?
?It is true that broiler chickens have less immunity. But local breeds are not often vaccinated properly so they too are prone to bird flu,? he added.
Ali requested the customers not to buy poultry birds from street vendors. He advised the people not to allow such vendors to sell poultry in their localities. The wholesalers should not to sell poultry to such vendors, he said.
Bird flu has been detected in 30 out of the 64 districts across the country. About 3,57, 197 birds have been culled since the first case was detected in February 2007. <HR>
De-feathering can be deadly
The latest deadly strain HSVI commonly known as bird flu spreads into human when they come in direct contact with birds such as chickens, ducks or wild birds (living or dead) infected by the flu virus.
Bird flu can spread during slaughtering and de-feathering of birds, and processing and preparation of the poultry for cooking.
It is also possible that coming into contact with droppings and nasal drips of infected birds could spread the virus to human beings.
According to World Health Organisation, since the H5N1 outbreaks started in 2003 this new health menace has so far claimed 216 lives all over the world, including at least 95 in Asia, most of them in Indonesia and Vietnam.
The symptoms of bird flu in human beings are very similar to the common flu symptoms and are therefore ignored. The worse threat about bird flu is that it may mutate into a new human influenza virus against which humans have no immunity. <HR>
Dead chickens still on sale
Dead chickens are still being sold in Kapatanbazar, the biggest wholesale poultry market in the city, every night, sources said.
These dead chickens are usually bought by mobile vendors at a very low price who later sell the products in the city's residential and slum areas. Some hotels and roadside restaurants are regular customers of these dead chickens.
Abul Hossain Patwari, general secretary, Kaptanbazar Poultry Baboshayee Samity said, ?A section of the poultry businessmen at Kaptanbazar are involved in this shady trade.?
?Truckloads of sick chickens are being transported in the city every night. Many chickens die on the way to Dhaka. They are being sold before dawn.?
Truckloads of chickens arrive at Kaptanbazar every night from across the county to meet the need of the city dwellers. Business transactions finish in this market by 7:00am.
Chief Veterinary Officer of Dhaka City Corporation Azmat Ali said: ?DCC can only inspect market condition and try to motivate the poultry businessmen. We don't have any power to enforce the restriction.?
Patwari on the other hand said, ?We informed local police to look into the matter but they did not pay heed to our request.?
Moreover, for protesting the sale of dead chickens a few days ago he was physically and verbally abused by the dishonest sellers. http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=21708
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Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" bgColor=#3366cc border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=updatetime align=middle>Sunday, February 3, 2008 06:16 AM GMT+06:00 </TD><TD class=volnum align=right width=100></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=60> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=newspath></TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=newsdetails vAlign=top>Click here for Printer Friendly VersionRed Alarm over Bird Flu
Star Health
Better plan needed to prevent outbreak of epidemic
Md Rajib Hossain
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</TD></TR><TR><TD class=osdn-navtext></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Until recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu virus, many people thought the virus has gone away. But it has not really; it is still around. Experts say it was largely "dormant" in recent months. Now the virus returns with more strength and has become more widespread.
Ninety nine commercial and backyard poultry farms in 31 out of our 64 districts have reportedly been infected with the deadly virus so far and it continues to spread. Everyday new areas are found infected raising concern amongst government officials, farmers, scientists and the general people. Over 364000 chickens have been culled after detection of the virus in the country. Experts urged to take immediate steps to tackle the situation.
Last year, for the first time H5N1strain emerged as a threat. Experts urged to be prepared for an epidemic that could kill millions of the population and damage our poultry farms. But very few initiatives were taken since that time to prevent further outbreak and handle the emergency.
The virus is known to have infected nearly 335 people in 12 countries and killed 206 since 2003 worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Most of the human cases were linked with close contacts with sick birds. So far, no humans have tested positive in the country. But the people are at great risk as human cases of bird flu have generally been linked to the contact with infected poultry.
Bangladesh has 125,000 small and large poultry firms producing 250 million broilers and 6 billion eggs annually. About 4 million Bangladeshis are directly or indirectly associated with poultry farming.
Health experts fear that the H5N1 virus, if given enough opportunities, may develop the characteristics it needs to start another influenza pandemic. The virus has already met all prerequisites for the outbreak of a pandemic and gradually increases its ability to spread efficiently and sustainably among humans.
The virus can improve its transmissibility among humans through two principal mechanisms. The first is a ?reassortment? event, in which genetic material is exchanged between human and avian viruses during co-infection of a human or pig. Reassortment could result in a fully transmissible pandemic virus, announced by a sudden surge of cases with explosive spread.
The second mechanism is a more gradual process of adaptive mutation, whereby the capability of the virus to bind to human cells increases during subsequent infections of humans. Adaptive mutation, expressed initially as small clusters of human cases with some evidence of human-to-human transmission, would probably give the world some time to take defensive action, if detected sufficiently early. The virus may mutate or change into a form that passes easily from human to human, causing an epidemic that could spread very rapidly in our densely populated country.
?In many places dead chickens are discarded in open air rather than culled or burred and faeces of the infected birds loaded with the H5N1 virus are not disposed of properly and dumped in public places. It poses a great threat for the spread of the virus along with the migratory routes of wild waterfowl. If this continues, the outbreaks will also continue,? warned Dr Vidyut Kumar, Convener of Bird Flu Control Room. ?It is the backyard farms that pose a real danger more than the commercial ones. Proper awareness at individual level is very essential? he added.
Director of Instituted of Epidemiology, Disease control & Research (IEDCR), Mahmudur Rahman expressed that consumers should be aware of the risk of cross-contamination. When handling raw poultry or raw poultry products, persons involved in food preparation should wash their hands thoroughly and clean and disinfect surfaces in contact with the poultry products. Hand washing after handling any bird or sick chicken is very important and simply soap and hot water are sufficient for this purpose.
Consumers need to be sure that all parts of the poultry are fully cooked (no "pink" parts). Eggs also should be properly cooked (no "runny" yolks). The H5N1 virus is sensitive to heat. Normal temperatures used for cooking (700C in all parts of the food) will kill the virus.
Domestic ducks can now excrete large quantities of highly pathogenic virus without showing signs of illness, and are now acting as a "silent" reservoir of the virus, perpetuating transmission to other birds. This adds yet another layer of complexity to control efforts and removes the warning signal for humans to avoid risky behaviours.
In many places, poultry farms are placed over pond or lake and fish farming in same pond goes simultaneously. If these poultry are infected, it could spread the virus in the water by shedding the virus loaded faeces in underneath pond. It could devastate our entire bio-security, informed Mr Rahman.
However, fears of a new pandemic, which could claim millions of lives, have not been realised so far, even though the mortality rate of the disease among humans has risen above 60 percent.
Altogether, more than half of the laboratory-confirmed cases have been fatal. H5N1 avian influenza in humans is still a rare disease, but a severe one that must be closely watched and studied, particularly because of the potential of this virus to evolve in ways that could start a pandemic.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=21712</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Comment
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Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat
25,000 chickens culledSunday, February 3, 2008 06:20 AM GMT+06:00
Unb, Dhaka
Livestock officials with the help of joint forces culled over 25,000 poultry and domestic fowls in Savar and Gopalganj since Friday night after detection of avian influenza at farms
In Savar, 1550 chickens of Rahman poultry Farm at Ashulia were culled on Friday night as the farm was detected with avian influenza virus infection.
Livestock officials yesterday culled around 22,000 chickens of eight other farms located within one kilometre of Rahman Poultry.
They culled 7,800 chickens of Dipa Poultry, 2500 of S A poultry, 3135 of Munnu and Muku Poultry, 2030 of Haji Poultry, 2200 of Tasmina Poultry, 1100 of Salam Poultry, 1400 of Jubair Poultry and 1150 of Happy Poultry.
In Gopalganj, over 1,600 domestic fowls were culled in the district town early yesterday.
Local Veterinary Hospital sources said two officials of the hospital examined the samples
of some dead chickens of the poultry farm belonging to M Abu Hossain of Thanapara area on Friday night and detected avian influenza.
Later, the livestock officials with the help of the law enforcers conducted a drive on 208 homesteads of the area in the early hours yesterday.
During the drive, some 762 chickens, 524 pigeons and 316 ducks were culled then buried,
Meanwhile, Jhenidah district administration yesterday decided to cull some 7,000 chickens at Shailakupa upazila headquarters after detection of avian influenza.
CCC ALLAYS FEAR
OUR correspondent from Chittagong reported that Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) yesterday allayed people's fears by beginning anti-viral spray at different kitchen markets around the city after the bird flu virus was found in a dead crow in the city.
The district administration has meanwhile urged all concerned to not panic, as there have been no reported cases of bird flu, also known as avian flu, infection at any poultry farm in the city or its outskirts.
In an emergency meeting the administration chalked up precautionary programme steps to contain he spread of the disease.
The administration has taken up different precautions in the face of the situation. It has set up checkpoints at the two entry points to the district -- Shubhapur Bridge at Feni and Mirsarai Police Station area -- to check entry of infected birds into the area.
Two control rooms have also been opened at the CCC Damapara office and DC office.
"Vircon" anti-viral was sprayed in various poultry shops in kitchen markets in 41 wards under the city yesterday, while more markets will be covered today.
CCC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) AKM Khairul Alam, District Livestock Officer Abdul Mannan, Civil Surgeon Md Jalal Uddin and other senior government officials were present at the meeting with DC Ashraf Shamim in the chair. http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=21776
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Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat
Bird flu panic grips Chittagong
Staff Correspondent . Chittagong
The port city of Chittagong was put on high alert to combat bird flu after some dead crows tested positive. The local administration swung into action with massive spraying of anti-virus liquid in the bazaars and dustbins from Saturday.
Bird flu virus were traced in some crows found dead recently at Agrabad in the city and tested in Dhaka, officials added.
Two control rooms were set up under the disaster management preparedness cell, the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) and the district administration in a bid to monitor the bird flu situation, officials added.
The Deputy commissioner of Chittagong, Asraf Shameem, told New Age that Chittagong was brought under continuous surveillance after detection of bird flu virus in the dead crows.
He informed reporters that the bird flu virus has not yet been traced in any poultry farm here so far.
?After we got the test report on dead crows, we took it seriously. All officials and concerned bodies were immediately asked to take precautionary measures to check the outbreak of bird flu,? he claimed.
?We held an emergency meeting for two hours till 12pm on Friday night and decided to maintain strong vigilance in addition to other required measures,? he added.
?We asked all officials in the city and upazilas to start massive spraying in local bazaars and on dustbins to prevent the outbreak of bird flu,? he added.
?If the virus is traced in any poultry firm, immediate measures will be taken for culling the fowls. Efforts are on for round-the-clock vigilance in this regard,? he further said.
Meanwhile, the sale of poultry birds and eggs declined in the local bazaars after the bird flu panic gripped the city and adjoining areas, said market sources.
Our Kushtia correspondent said that nearly 6,000 poultry birds were buried on Saturday after nearly 5,000 died within a span of five days in the Kushtia Agro Hatchery and Poultry Farm at Barokhada under Sadar Upazila.
Samples were sent to Dhaka on Friday through district livestock office for being tested.
After extermination of affected fowls the rate of mortality in the farm has sharply fallen, claimed the farm owner Ataur Rahman on Saturday.
District Livestock Officer Ajay Kumar Roy told New Age that whether it was bird flu or anything else cannot be said until the government order comes. He could not confirm when the GO would come.
The livestock office has, in the meantime, banned the entrance and departure of any poultry birds or products to or from the farm, said the DLO. ?We are trying to combat the infection through our limited manpower,? he added.
Panic gripped the people in the areas adjacent to the farm as it is located within a village. No disinfection programme has so far been launched in the area as the GO is yet to come.
?I have supplied the workers with gloves and masks as precaution,? said the farm owner. http://www.newagebd.com/front.html#14
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Re: Pakistan - Bird Flu in Poultry/Animals Jan 23+
CommentaryOriginally posted by niman View Post
Isolation Wards Readied in Bangladesh
Recombinomics Commentary 17:27
February 2, 2008
The H5N1 strain has now spread to 34 out of Bangladesh's 64 districts, forcing police and livestock officials to slaughter 35,000 chickens in the past three days alone, officials said.
The government in Dhaka ordered major hospitals to set up isolation units to treat bird flu suspects.
"We've taken blood samples of 837 people and none have been found positive. We've also confined several people in their homes, while more than a thousand are under our watch," government spokesman Mahmudur Rahman said.
Health officials investigating bird flu cases called the situation "alarming" and getting worse every day.
The above comments describe a worsening situation in Bangladesh. The number of districts with confirmed H5N1 has risen dramatically in recent days (see satellite map here and here).
Although West Bengal media reports have emphasized the ending of their culling program, the lack of reported spread there is closely linked to the lack of testing. In addition to the spread in West Bengal, H5N1 was just confirmed in southern Pakistan near Karachi, and excessive deaths in multiple locations in India are being investigated.
Pakistan has also readied isolation wards in the Karachi area, and three farm workers are in isolation. Recent human cases in northern Pakistan have heightened concerns regarding human cases, including those that do not progress to pneumonia.
More detail on hospitalized patients and spread of H5N1 to new districts would be useful.
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"The next major advancement in the health of American people will be determined by what the individual is willing to do for himself"-- John Knowles, Former President of the Rockefeller FoundationComment
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Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat
Bird flu spreads in Bangladesh, port city on alert
03 Feb 2008 10:57:50 GMT
<!-- 03 Feb 2008 10:57:50 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 in Bangladesh, port city on alert --><!-- Reuters -->DHAKA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Bird flu has spread to three more districts of Bangladesh, the livestock department said on Sunday, taking the number of affected districts to more than half of the country's 64 districts.
The latest outbreaks were reported in southwestern Gopalganj, northeastern Sylhet and northern Mymensingh district, officials said.
The port city of Chittagong was put on high alert after some dead crows tested positive for the H5N1 virus, local officials said.
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.
Despite a government drive to burn or buy the dead birds, many farmers and backyard poultry breeders continue to ignore warnings, officials said.
"More than 200,000 volunteers are visiting rural households and educating people to report dead or sick birds, safe disposal of poultry waste and other safe health practices," said Mushtaque Ahmed, senior scientific officer at the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research.
Touching or eating sick poultry is the common way to become infected by the bird flu virus that has killed more than 220 people globally since late 2003.
So far no human infection has been reported in Bangladesh, though some 4 million people are involved in poultry farming across the country.
The neighbouring Indian state of West Bengal has put 26 people in isolation with bird flu symptoms after the most serious outbreak of the disease in poultry.
(Reporting by Ruma Paul; Writing by Anis Ahmed; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
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Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat
Commentary
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Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat
Warden Message
February 3, 2008
The first officially announced Avian Influenza (AI) outbreak in Bangladesh occurred in February 2007 near the capital Dhaka; since then the virus has spread, mostly to northern districts with multiple small outbreaks reported every month. Thus far there have been no reports of deaths of poultry near the border with West Bengal, where very recent outbreaks have occurred. There are no reported cases of human illness.
All U.S. citizens should consider their medium-term plans in the unlikely event that Avian Influenza ever becomes a virulent human disease, or pandemic flu. Pandemic planning information is available at www.pandemicflu.gov. For further information on avian influenza, the U.S. Embassy suggests that you consult the U.S. Department of State's Avian Influenza Fact Sheet at http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/health/health_1181.html, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) web site at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/index.htm. World Health Organization (WHO) guidance related to Avian Influenza is available at http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en/.
The U.S. Embassy in Dhaka can be reached at (880-2) 885-5500 during regular hours and for after-hours emergencies. Our website address is dhaka.usembassy.gov. For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet web site at http://travel.state.gov, where the current Country Specific Information, Current Travel Warning, Current Travel Alerts, Worldwide Caution other Travel Alerts and Travel Warnings can be found.
Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and Canada; or, for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 am to 8:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).
U.S. Embassy
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Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat
I have to say that message was full of inaccuracies.
"Thus far there have been no reports of deaths of poultry near the border with West Bengal, where very recent outbreaks have occurred. There are no reported cases of human illness."...
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Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=content01>Bangladesh Poultry Industry Hit by Bird Flue Faces Severe Crisis</TD></TR><TR><TD height=45><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=5 width="100%" bgColor=#cccccc><TBODY><TR><TD class=content02 bgColor=#e8e8e8> 2008-02-03 21:29:52 Xinhua</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE class=content03 id=dstTable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>Bangladesh's fast growing poultry industry is now facing a severe threat of deadly avian influenza as livestock workers had to cull more than 51,000 chickens, ducks and pigeons in the past 24 hours.
The industry has culled more than 423,000 fowls since March last year as the bird flue affected the country's 34 out of 64 districts, the control room on bird flu under the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry said on Sunday.
"I must say the symptom is alarming," DR Biduit Kanti Das, an official of the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry, told Xinhua over phone Sunday. He said if the current trend continues the poultry industry's existence would be threatened.
More than 100 billion taka (about 1.43 billion U.S. dollars) were invested in this growing poultry sector employing several million people.
Already many private poultry farms were shut down. Panicked people stopped buying chickens, bringing down the prices of chickens in markets across the country.
DR Das said, "we have taken decision to declare new affected areas as disaster areas halting movement of fowls within 10 km radius" as a strict precautionary step.
According to statistics, the number of poultry in the country is 183.45 million. The number of poultry farms is about 130,000. Of them 50 percent are commercial farms and the rest 50 percent is backyard farms.
There is a suspicion that Avian Influenza might have entered Bangladesh from neighboring Indian state of West Bengal. But, DR Das said the government banned poultry imports from India since last year following the outbreak of virus in that country.
"But you cannot rule it out that virus did not come from neighboring countries as we have borders with India and Myanmar Defying the government ban, people may import chickens or eggs from neighboring countries," he said.
President of Bangladesh Chapter of World Poultry Science Association Moshiur Rahman was quoted by private news agency UNB as saying, "Thousands of poultry farmers have been compelled to shut down their farms following a sharp fall in the prices of poultry products after the reported attack by avian influenza."
He said now this sector should be declared as emergency sector to save millions of farmers.
Rahman said, "No one has so far died after eating poultry eggs or chicks, but people have got panicked after the media reports on outbreak of bird flu virus among poultry chicks in Bangladesh."
He said poultry traders have set up 11 check posts across the country from where medicines are being sprayed on poultry eggs and chicks before they are sent to markets.
"Only setting up of check posts or spraying medicines on the poultry products or culling the poultry birds cannot help," he said. "People must also be made aware that avian influenza will not inflict them if they eat chicks and eggs after boiling them adequately."
According to statistics, in recent years the poultry industry has been growing at an annual rate of about 20 percent, recording a turnover of 1.25 to 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2006. But industry analysts estimate that the 2007 figure may be below the figure of 2006 because of the bird flu. http://english.cri.cn/2947/2008/02/03/902@320283.htm</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat
1,300 fowls culled in Thakurgaon
Our Correspondent, Dinajpur
At least 1,300 domestic fowls were culled and 199 eggs were destroyed in Haripur upazila under Thakurgaon district on Saturday night after bird flu was detected in a poultry farm in the area.
According to district livestock officials, poultry that died in Birhai village under Haripur upazila of Thakurgaon were tested and found to be carrying the avian flu virus.
Since then Haripur upazila administrative officials have made all-out preparations to combat the situation. They culled at least 1300 domestic fowls and destroyed 199 eggs within the one-kilometer radius from the place in Birhai village where the infected bird was first detected.
Our Chittagong correspondent reports that more crows have been found dead in the port city over the last few days including over one hundred crows at Dewanhat yesterday.
Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) is continuing its awareness programme. Yesterday they started oral announcements in different areas warning people about bird flu and what to do if they find any birds dead.
Four more control rooms have been opened at the offices of district administration, CCC, livestock department and civil surgeon.
Meanwhile, officials have collected sample of dead poultry from a farm in city's Bakalia area and sent it to Feni for laboratory tests, sources said.
The 100 dead crows were found at CSD Food Godown at Dewanhat Mansurabad area under Double Mooring Police Station. A labourer working at the place said that crows have dying here for the last ten days.
BSS adds that special assistant to the chief adviser for the ministry of fisheries and livestock Manik Lal Samaddar yesterday said that the government is considering increasing the compensation money for poultry infected by avian flu.
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