May 14, 2007

Bird flu spreads in Bangladesh
 

Bird flu continued to take its toll in Bangladesh despite authorities' efforts to curb the spread of the disease, leading to some 10,000 chickens culled recently, officials said May 11.

The deadly H5N1 virus strain was detected on a farm near Nilphamari district 400 kilometres north-west of Dhaka following laboratory tests, according to Abdul Motalib of the fisheries and livestock ministry.

Since Bangladesh's first bird flu reports in March, about 142,000 chickens have been culled and 1.4 million eggs destroyed in 53 farms in 11 districts, officials said.

Besides providing poultry producers money to restart their businesses, authorities will also compensate them 70 taka (about US$1) for each bird culled.

So far, no human cases of bird flu have been reported in the country.