January 28, 2004

Bird Flu Suspected In Bangladesh As Chickens Die

Bangladeshi authorities have ordered the investigation of the deaths of thousands of chickens in the north of the country.

The South Asian nation last week banned chicken and egg imports from India, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea in precaution against the flu. The virus has killed at least 10 people and millions of chickens across Asia.

"So far, we are on the safe side," said Iqbal Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, a top bureaucrat at Fisheries and Livestock Ministry on Wednesday. "All precautionary measures have been taken against bird flu."

But the ministry ordered a probe into the deaths of several thousand local chickens in the past week in Gazipur district, 32 kilometers north of the capital Dhaka.

The deaths were reported in half a dozen farms in the region and experts have been asked to submit their report by Friday, said Junior Fisheries and Livestock Minister Ukil Abus Sattar.

Sattar said Bangladesh is still free from bird flu, although it's not clear why "some chickens died" in Gazipur.

Authorities said border troops have been asked to tighten their checks against smuggling of chickens or eggs from neighboring India. The two countries shares a 4,500 kilometer frontier.

Bangladesh buys up to 1.5 million mainly one-day-old chicks each year from nine Asian countries for rearing in its own poultry farms.

The country has nearly 100,000 poultry farms, which generate annual business worth US$330 million.