January 28, 2010

Bird disease spreads in Bangladesh

Bangladesh government officials have confirmed an outbreak of avian influenza, which means that previous poultry deaths may have been mistakenly attributed to Newcastle disease.
 

An estimated 3,000 chickens from a farm in Sirajganj district were destroyed to prevent the spread of the virus.

According to animal health officials, the outbreak follows about 10,000 poultry deaths on 20 farms over 10 days in the district. The deaths, which occurred from January 10-20, had been attributed without confirmation to Newcastle disease. Officials now say that the deaths may have been caused by avian influenza.

The president of a local poultry association blamed the bird flu outbreak on egg and poultry imports from India.