February 9, 2010

Bangladesh culls almost 13,000 chickens amid bird flu

Some 12,789 chickens have been culled so far this year following fresh outbreak of bird flu in Bangladesh last month, officials said.

Of the total, Ataur Rahman, a government's bird flu control room official, said that 9,526 birds, including 8,821 in a commercial firm in Dhaka, were culled in the first week of this month.

Fresh outbreak of bird flu was detected in Bangladesh in January with the arrival of winter season when authorities said that they culled 3,263 chickens in three commercial farms in the country's two northwestern districts - Joypurhat and Sirajgonj.

Bangladesh's Fisheries and Live Stock Department director general Habibur Rahman said that the department has strengthened its surveillance to contain further spread of the infectious disease.

According to reports, bird flu has so far spread to four districts of the South Asian country including its capital Dhaka this year since its resurrection last month.
 

Rahman, however, expected that there will not be massive outbreak of the disease this time, saying, "We're near to the end of dangerous period meaning winter season which is the high time for outbreak of the disease."

With the rise of temperature in March and April, director of the government's Influenza Preparedness and Response Project Nazrul Islam said risk factors of bird flu disease will continue to ease off in Bangladesh.

The bird flu was first detected in Bangladesh in a poultry farm near capital Dhaka in March 2007. The situation deteriorated later on as the virus spread fast across the country which was reported in 47 districts between December 2007 and March 2008.

About 50% of the country's 150,000 poultry farms were closed and more than 1.5 million chickens, ducks and pigeons were culled as of the end of March, 2008 in which the Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association (BPIA) estimated a loss of about BDT75 billion (US$1.08 million).

Following fresh outbreak of the bird flu this year, officials said a number of poultry farmers in the country have already dwindled their production being afraid of incurring losses further.

Bangladesh's poultry industry suffered huge losses as bird flu caused over 1.98 million chickens' death since March 2007 in the country, the government's bird flu control room data showed.