February 10, 2011

Bangladesh hit by bird flu, chickens culled

Bangladeshi authorities have culled nearly 50,000 chickens to date this year after a new bird flu outbreak in January, according to an official on Wednesday (Feb 9).

The government's bird flu control room official said Wednesday (Feb 9), "Some 46,387 chickens were culled so far this year after detecting avian influenza in 16 commercial farms."

Fresh outbreak of bird flu was detected in Bangladesh in the first week of January with arrival of winter season when the official, who preferred to be unnamed, said some 17,723 chickens were culled in four commercial farms including one near to capital Dhaka.

Apart from this, he said 9,769 birds died of the avian influenza in the 16 flu hit firms until Tuesday (Feb 8) since January this year. "A total of 65,481 eggs were also destroyed during the same time," he added.

Against this backdrop, Bangladesh's Fisheries and Live Stock Department has strengthened its surveillance to contain further spread of the infectious disease - H5N1.

"We've taken special steps like motivating farmers to adopt preventive measures since the disease found to re-emerge last month to contain its outbreak," Director of the government's Influenza Preparedness and Response Project, Nazrul Islam, said.

He said 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.

"We've instructed our field level officials for proper culling, destruction, disposal and decontamination immediately after diagnosis," he added.

Islam further said they have also asked the authorities concerned for more vigilance at the border entry points as there are reports of bird flu outbreak in some neighbouring countries.