Bangladesh: Bird Flu in ANIMALS/POULTRY Feb/6/2008-Feb/28/2008

[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

<TABLE id=table5 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" cellPadding=0 width="80%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=mainheadlink2 colSpan=5>Leading farms take steps to control bird-flu in city</TD></TR><TR height=5><TD colSpan=2></TD><TD colSpan=4></TD><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2></TD><TD colSpan=2></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD></TR><TR height=5><TD colSpan=6></TD><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2></TD><TD width="9%"></TD><TD width="50%"></TD><TD width="13%"></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD></TR><TR height=5><TD colSpan=2></TD><TD colSpan=4></TD><TD width="1%"></TD></TR><!-- Start --><!-- End --><TR height=6><TD colSpan=2></TD><TD colSpan=4></TD><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2> </TD><TD class=blacksub colSpan=4><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=center bgColor=#ffffff border=0>Naim-Ul-Karim

The country's leading poultry farms, hotels and restaurants of late have come forward with protective measures to fight avian influenza alongside the government.

The private sector move came after the Department of Livestock staffs Saturday started culling some 165,000 birds at a farm for the first time in the capital.

More than 0.6 millions birds have already been culled across the country since March 2007, but the virus continues to spread and now covers nearly two thirds of the country.

Of some 150,000 farms in the country, leading Kazi Farm Ltd, Aftab Farm Ltd, CP-Bangladesh and Paragon Farm have already taken steps to fight the avian flu on their own initiatives in the city.

"We have launched awareness campaign in the city's birds selling markets," Kazi Jashim of Kazi Farms Ltd said.

He said Kazi farm has started spraying anti-avian chemicals in the kitchen markets in the capital.

Besides spraying, an official of the Aftab said it will organise training for the traders and farmers to educate them on how to handle birds at low risk.

"We have already taken all required precautionary measures. So, customers can eat meat of any bird in any of our restaurants," Mahbubur Rahman, director of Westin Hotels and Resorts, said.

Akku Chowdhury, executive director of Transcom Foods, said there is no need to worry when eating poultry birds as they ensure proper testing in every stage of processing and cooking.

A spokesman of Sonargaon Hotel said it has also taken moves to make its guests aware about the disease.

Leading poultry firms who are now rendering service on their own will hold a roundtable with experts this week to chalk out joint steps to fight avian flu virus, Amir Khasru, an executive of the World Poultry Science-Bangladesh, told the FE Saturday.

"We will set our next steps in light of the experience of those countries that have already faced attack of bird flu and protected this sector," he said.

According to statistics of World Health Organisation (WHO), some 588 people of 12 countries including China, Thailand, Pakistan, Myanmar and Vietnam have been affected by Avian Influenza A /(H5N1) since 2003 to 2008. Out of total affected people, 227 so far died.

Officials in the city said the government was taking measures to contain the spread of the disease, but ignorance among of poultry farmers across the country remained a major stumbling block.

They said the government has raised the compensation money for poultry farmers to encourage them to report and cull sick birds as part of efforts to stamp out the disease. <TBODY></TBODY></TABLE>
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[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

<TABLE id=AutoNumber12 style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=1><TBODY><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" width="100%">

</TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #111111; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: #111111; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" width="100%">Workers bury 1.7 lakh chickens affected with bird flu of Omega Poultry Farm Ltd, culled on Sunday, in the city. Photo: Focus Bangla
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http://www.thebangladeshtoday.com/

[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

More fowls culled in different dists












Some 43,678 chickens were culled in five districts of Pabna, Nilphamari, Dinajpur, Sreepur of Gazipur and Raozan of Chittagong in the last 24 hours ending Sunday afternoon, officials said, reports UNB.
With the fresh culling of fowls, the total number of culled chickens, ducks and pigeons shot up to 686,357 in 43 out of 64 districts since the virus broke out in March last year, an official at the Bird Flu control room told UNB.
Meanwhile, Livestock Department workers continued culling of nearly 1.65 lakh fowls at a farm near Uttar Badda in the capital after detection of avian influenza virus. The control room said annihilating of fowls began Saturday evening and it continued on Sunday.
Intensity of the virus might be contained with the rise in temperature. http://www.newstoday-bd.com/frontpag...ewsdate=#10929

[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" bgColor=#3366cc border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=updatetime align=middle>Monday, February 18, 2008 12:57 AM GMT+06:00 </TD><TD class=volnum align=right width=100></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=60> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=newspath></TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=newsdetails vAlign=top>

Farms at bird flu peril
Chicken goes off menu for most
Sohel Parvez

<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width=200 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD class=osdn-navtext></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The country's poultry industry continues to be in grave peril with sales already halved due to panic among consumers in the wake of recent bird flu outbreaks, operators said.

Many restaurants have already taken chicken off their menus while home consumption too has slumped.

?We are going broke. We are pushing our chicks at a token price to poultry farmers to minimise our losses,? said Shah Habibul Haque, director of Aftab Bahumukhi Farm Ltd.

One of the biggest poultry hatcheries, the farm claims it has incurred on average a loss of Tk 2 crore every month since November last year.

?Condition of small farmers is even more miserable. They are losing their capital,? he said adding that currently they charge only Tk 7-8 for a day-old chick, about one third of production cost at Tk 22.

The bird flu or avian influenza, which broke out in Bangladesh early last year, has now reached epidemic proportions sweeping across the poultry industry that accounts for over 1.6 percent of GDP.

According to official data, the government has detected presence of bird flu in 152 farms in 43 districts and culled 6.42 lakh birds as of February 16.

Industry operators report a loss of nearly Tk 5,000 crore because of plummeting sales coupled with a steady rise in the prices of poultry feeds, all against the backdrop of bird flu panic.

?At a rough estimate, we have made a loss of nearly Tk 5,000 crore,? said Moshiur Rahman,

convener of Poultry Industries Co-ordination Committee.

Operators said thousands of farms have been forced to shut down in a year due to bird flu outbreaks and hike in prices of feed ingredients.

Around half a crore people are directly or indirectly employed in the industry having 1.5 lakh farms.

?My sales have come down drastically,? said Delwar Hossain, owner of Janata Poultry at the Kaptan Bazar, one of the biggest wholesale and retail markets for poultry products in the capital.

He said daily sales in his wholesale store hovered around Tk 1.50 lakh in January. ?Now I struggle to have sales of Tk 25,000 a day,? he said.

Showing his sales register, Khokon Mia, a poultry retailer at Kaptan Bazar, said the sales at his shop have dropped 58 percent on point to point basis.

In retail outlets, chickens sell at Tk 65-70 a kg whereas only a month ago it was Tk 80-85.

?I sold Tk 67,300 worth of poultry on January 16, but only a month later, it dropped to Tk 28,000. We are going through a terrible time. People have incredibly cut down on their poultry intake,? said Khokon who also supplies chickens and eggs to a number of city restaurants.

Outbreaks of the disease affected the chicken consumption in the city restaurants and party centres.

?The consumption has fallen by about 50 percent amid bird flu panic,? said Ali Akbar Badal, general manager of XINXIAN, a Chinese restaurant at Kalabagan.

Star Kabab's Karwan Bazar branch Manager Mohammad Shahin also said their restaurant too has seen a sharp drop in consumption of chicken.

?It's a serious crisis as continuing decrease in consumption push the farmers and hatcheries to huge losses,? said head of Brac Poultry MA Saleque, who believes overall consumption has been slashed by half. http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=T...LZTcqgOyza3pCA
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One of several CNG filling stations between Kanchpur Bridge and Jatrabari of the capital which BNP big shots built on the Kutubkhali canal, drastically reducing Dhaka's drainage capability. PHOTO: STAR --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Livestock department officials armoured with protective clothing dump chickens culled following bird flu infection at Omega Poultry Farm in Uttar Badda of the capital yesterday. Photo: STAR

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[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

More chickens culled in capital
Culling drive continues at
Omega Poultry Farm at Badda
Staff Correspondent
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=8 width="1%" align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Culling of about 1.50 lakh chickens at Omega Poultry Farm in the city?s Badda area continued for the second consecutive day on Sunday.
The avian influenza virus was detected at the poultry farm on Friday and the livestock department started culling the chickens of the farm on Saturday.
Dhaka district livestock officer Sheikh Saidur Rahman told New Age on Sunday that they culled 95,048 chickens of the farm till 7:00pm, and would kill 54,000 more chickens.
?We have to cull only household chickens and ducks within one kilometer area of the farm as there is no poultry farm in the area,? he said.
?We are also preparing the list and the final decision on paying compensation to the affected farmers and owners will be taken by the committee concerned,? he said.
This is the fourth case of avian influenza in the city. First case of avian influenza was detected in the first week of January at Mirpur Central Poultry Farm where 19,000 chickens were culled by the livestock department.
The second case of bird flu was detected at a farm of Nasir Uddin at 521/2 Shahidbagh in Shahjahanpur. Nasir set up his poultry farm on the rooftop of a six-storey building and 1,000 chicks of the farm were culled in mid-January.
A total of 4,083 chickens were also culled and 2,389 eggs destroyed at BDR poultry farm at Pilkhana on January 30 after the detection of avian influenza at the poultry farm. http://www.newagebd.com/front.html#6

[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

Nat?l guideline to tackle,
prevent bird flu demanded
Staff Correspondent
The leaders of the Bangladesh Bird Flu Protirodh Nagorik Committee, on Sunday at a press conference held at the Dhaka Reporters Unity, demanded immediate formulation of a national guideline to prevent avian influenza and the taking of measures according to the guideline.
They also demanded immediate beginning of the vaccination of the poultry and ducks immediately to prevent the spread of bird flu.
?It is not effective to prevent bird flu by culling chickens in areas near affected farms as the disease has been spreading like an epidemic, so the government has devise a new strategy immediately,? said Junayed Saki, a central member of the committee.
About 25 lakh people are involved in the poultry sector and if the government fails to take proper steps immediately, the small poultry farms will become extinct and multinational companies will grab the sector totally, he said.
Underscoring the need for mandatory vaccination of poultry, MM Khan, another central member of the committee, said that countries like Vietnam and China have made vaccination of poultry compulsory to prevent bird flu.
Countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Sudan are also using vaccines regularly, he added.
The government should lift the restriction on import of diagnostic kits, and laboratories must be set up, in both the public and private sectors, to diagnose the avian influenza in the early stages, he said.
Kazi Kamruzzaman, convener of the committee, demanded the immediate steps to build up awareness of bird flu in the public, stop the kitchen markets from selling live chickens, enforce the killing of poultry in special slaughter houses, impose restriction on entrance of sick chickens into the markets and increasing monitoring to ensure that the measures are being followed strictly.
They also demanded compensation to the affected poultry farmers as soon as possible.
http://www.newagebd.com/nat.html

[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

Bird flu update? 95,000 more fowls culled in city farm




Staff Reporter

Livestock officials yesterday culled more 95,000 fowls at a poultry farm in the city after detection of avian influenza, virus of bird flu. Another 60,000 birds are underway to cull, said an official of the Livestock Department.

The dangerous H5N1 strain of the virus was found in chickens at a farm in a suburb of Dhaka, said Mohammad Salauddin Ahmed, Director of Administration of the Directorate of Livestock.

More than 100 health workers were ordered to kill the 150,000 chickens at the Omega Poultry Farm in the city, he said.

The culling of the fowls - infected or feared to be infected - at Omega Poultry Farm in North Badda started Saturday evening after livestock officials had detected the strain of fatal bird flu virus H5N1 among the birds.

"Two more pits are being dug at the site for burying the culled birds, chicken feeds and waste," said Saidur Rahman.

Ataur Rahman Nayan, a staff of Omega, said, "The firm authorities had informed the government office of the incidence of disease Saturday. There are some 1.5 lakh fowls in the farms."

He said that he was not aware of how the virus infected the fowls, despite all precautions taken by the farm to keep the disease at bay.

Meanwhile, Sunil Chandra Ghosh, Director General of the Livestock Department, said, "The authorities will take necessary steps to stop the spread of the disease from that farm. All chicken feed and waste generated at the farm have been also buried for the purpose."

Alees Ahmed Khan, owner of the farm, said that he lost about Tk 12 crore so far to the incidence of the disease.

"The Government is paying only Tk 60 for every culled fowl, which does not compensate for the huge losses at all," he said.

Bird flu has already spread to 42 districts out of 64 in the country since it was first detected in March last year. More than 600,000 birds have been slaughtered so far across the country. No cases of human infection have been reported, according to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock.

The Government recently tightened controls along its porous border with India, with authorities ordering officials to block all imports of poultry and eggs from that country.

Any widespread outbreak could be disastrous for Bangladesh because of its dense population and poultry and poorly equipped public health care system, said experts.

There are many poultry farms in overcrowded neighbourhoods across the country. Bangladesh's growing poultry industry is made up of about 150,000 farms and has an annual turnover of about $750 million (about Tk 525 crore). http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/200...8/news0877.htm

[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

Compensation for farm owners stopped
Pranesh Sarkar
KOLKATA, Feb. 17: Worried over rampant trading of chickens in the bird flu affected blocks in the state, the state animal resources department has asked the authorities of all districts to stop the payment of compensation to the backyard poultry owners who are still involved in trading of chickens.
The state government had announced that all kind of poultry activity and trading of chickens would be banned in the bird flu affected 48 blocks and five municipalities for the next three months as per the international protocol while lifting state wide ban on transportation and trading of chickens on 12 February. The ban was imposed on 5 February.
However, the state animal resources department was in trouble after it received reports that trading of chickens started in the affected blocks as soon as the statewide ban was lifted. The state ARD minister, Mr Anisur Rahman, visited the affected districts to inquire whether all norms were being followed in the post culling operation period. He also received complaints that illegal chicken trading was in full swing in the affected blocks. Immediately after that the state animal resources department sent a directive saying the backyard poultry owners involved in trading of chickens should not get compensation.
Officials of the animal resources department said the step was initiated after it was realised that few backyard poultry owners who kept their chickens away from the rapid response teams during the culling operation were involved in this illegal trading of chickens. The backyard poultry owners are being held responsible because transportation of chickens have been banned in these blocks and that?s why chickens can not enter the blocks from outside.
Officials also said that in many areas compensation money has already been disbursed and in these areas names of errant backyard poultry owners could be omitted from the list according to which interim relief will be given. The minister said he has asked the district magistrates not to give compensation money to those who are still carrying out trading of chickens in the affected blocks. http://www.thestatesman.net/page.new...sess=1&clid=14

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

Bangladesh bird flu spreads, leaves half a million jobless

DHAKA (AFP) ? The spread of deadly bird flu in Bangladesh has forced the closure of 40 percent of the nation's poultry farms and left half a million poultry workers jobless, industry officials said on Monday.

Government authorities said the virus was still "under control", although it has spread to 43 out of the country's 64 districts, forcing authorities to slaughter some 800,000 birds.

"It's a natural disaster like cyclone or floods. The poor farmers who raise chickens in their backyards are particularly hard hit by the bird flu," said Abdul Baki, principal scientific officer of the livestock department.

"But we still think things are under control," Baki said, adding the government was launching a massive plan to compensate affected farmers.

Baki's comments came as the authorities struggled to slaughter another 160,000 birds in one of the largest farms in the capital Dhaka. Officials said it would take another day to complete the slaughter.

The outbreak at Omega farm showed the disease was out of control, industry officials said.

"Omega is one of the top farms which rigorously maintained international bio-safety regulations but it was not spared by the deadly flu," said M.M Khan, a senior official of the Bangladesh Poultry Association.

"The situation is so bad nobody is buying any poultry these days. They're panicking. The crows and migrant birds are spreading the flu everywhere, leaving authorities simply hopeless," Khan said.

Already some supermarkets in the capital have suspended poultry sales, he said,

The flu has forced closure of at least 40 percent of the country's estimated 150,000 commercial farms, leaving at least half a million people jobless, Khan said.

The government has repeatedly urged people not to be frightened and begun a major drive to assure people that eating cooked poultry poses no health dangers.

It is also giving farmers 1.50 dollars compensation for each chicken slaughtered because of the virus.

Bangladesh was first hit by bird flu in February 2007 but the disease became dormant. Officials said outbreak resurfaced in January when 20 new districts were hit. So far in February another 11 have been hit.

Bangladesh's poultry industry is one of the world's largest, producing 220 million chickens and 37 million ducks annually.

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Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

<TABLE class=lan18 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="97%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=hei22 vAlign=bottom height=25>Culling of 149,453 chickens completed in Bangladesh's capital
</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#ffffff height=4></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="50%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="97%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="48%">www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-18 20:25:05</TD><TD class=hui12 align=middle width="26%"> </TD><TD class=hui12 align=middle width="12%"> Print</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="80%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=20></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=lt14 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="97%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=lt14>



DHAKA, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh health workers completed culling around 150,000 chickens at a poultry farm in capital Dhakaas the bird flu ravaged the country's growing poultry industry, said government officials on Monday.
The government took the decision to cull the largest ever number of chickens Friday night after detection of the bird flu virus in the Omega Poultry Farm Limited that had 165,000 chickens. 　
According to officials at the Bird Flu Control Room here, 149,453 chickens of the farm were culled during the three-day drive while the remaining 12,480 died after being affected by the H5N1 virus.
They said the culling started on Saturday evening and completed at about 10 a.m. Monday.
After the sudden death of some chickens at the poultry farm, its staff sent some samples of the dead chickens Wednesday to Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute for test where the presence of deadly H5N1 virus was detected on Thursday.
Later, on Friday night, the government issued orders for culling all the chickens of the farm.
An official at the Bird Flu Control Room told Xinhua Monday that the Livestock Department has so far culled more than 835,000 chickens, ducks and pigeons of 231 commercial farms and 40 household farms in 43 districts out of 64 districts since the virus broke out in March last year.
The government has provided 20 million taka (about 285,700 U.S. dollars) to the affected poultry farm owners as compensation. In the wake of spreading of the bird flu, panicked people in urban areas stopped eating chickens, ducks and eggs while most restaurants have taken chicks out of their menus. Prices of chicks and eggs have also come down heavily. According to a rough estimate, the bird flu caused a loss of 50billion taka (about 714 million dollars) to poultry industry. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_7625971.htm

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[HenryN]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

Bird Flu1108 Bird Flu1108

Bird Flu Related Information up to 17 February, 2008

1. No. of Farms with confirmed H5 Virus 157
2. No. of Districts with Confirmed H5 Virus 43
(Upzilla-81, Metro Thana-12)

( Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayangonj, Tangail, Jamalpur, Jessore, Noakhali, Gaibandha, Magura, Rajbari, Nilphamari, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Jaipurhat, Lalmonirhat, Thakurgaon, Naogaon, Bagura, Feni, Pabna, Kurigram, Moulvibazar, Barisal, Rajshahi, Barguna, Natore, Patuakhali, Netrokona, Bhola, Khulna, Manikgonj, Gopalgonj, Mymensingh, Sylhet, Kustia, Jhinaidah, Norsingdhi, Bagerhat, Chittagong, Kishoregonj, Meherpur, Comilla, Shariatpur)

3. No. of Culled Farms 271

(Dhaka-35 (Savar-26, Turagh-01, Demra-01, Mirpur-03, Shabujbagh-01, Lalbagh-01, Nobabgonj-02), Gazipur-09, Jamalpur-06, Narayangonj-16, Tangail-02, Jessore-11, Noakhali-02, Gaibandha-04, Magura-01, Rajbari-03, Nilphamari-12, Dinajpur-30, Rangpur-06, jaipurhat-04, Lalmonirhat-04, Thakurgaon-02, Naogaon-02, Bagura-02, Feni-08, Pabna-05, Kurigram-01, Moulvibazar-01, Barisal-02, Barguna-16, Rajshahi-03, Natore-01, Patuakhali-01, Netrokona-01, Bhola-08, Manikgonj-03, Mymensingh-03, Gopalgonj-01, Khulna-14, Sylhet-01, Jhinaidah-04, Kustia-01, Norsingdhi-21, Bagerhat-02, Chittagong-09, Kishoregonj-05, Meherpur-02, Comilla-06, Shariatpur-01)

4. Culled on 17/02/2008 ---

5. Culling up to 17/02/2008 6, 86, 357

http://www.mofl.gov.bd/daily_birdflu_report.pdf

[HenryN]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

Bird Flu Related Information up to 18 February, 2008

1. No. of Farms with confirmed H5 Virus 159
2. No. of Districts with Confirmed H5 Virus 43
(Upazilla-82, Metro Thana-13)

( Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayangonj, Tangail, Jamalpur, Jessore, Noakhali, Gaibandha, Magura, Rajbari, Nilphamari, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Jaipurhat, Lalmonirhat, Thakurgaon, Naogaon, Bagura, Feni, Pabna, Kurigram, Moulvibazar, Barisal, Rajshahi, Barguna, Natore, Patuakhali, Netrokona, Bhola, Khulna, Manikgonj, Gopalgonj, Mymensingh, Sylhet, Kustia, Jhinaidah, Norsingdhi, Bagerhat, Chittagong, Kishoregonj, Meherpur, Comilla, Shariatpur)

3. No. of Culled Farms 277

(Dhaka-36 (Savar-26, Turagh-01, Demra-01, Mirpur-03, Shabujbagh-01, Lalbagh-01, Nobabgonj-02, Badda-01), Gazipur-09, Jamalpur-06, Narayangonj-16, Tangail-02, Jessore-11, Noakhali-02, Gaibandha-04, Magura-01, Rajbari-04, Nilphamari-12, Dinajpur-30, Rangpur-06, jaipurhat-04, Lalmonirhat-04, Thakurgaon-02, Naogaon-02, Bagura-02, Feni-08, Pabna-05, Kurigram-01, Moulvibazar-01, Barisal-02, Barguna-16, Rajshahi-03, Natore-01, Patuakhali-01, Netrokona-01, Bhola-08, Manikgonj-03, Mymensingh-03, Gopalgonj-01, Khulna-14, Sylhet-01, Jhinaidah-04, Kustia-01, Narsingdhi-25, Bagerhat-02, Chittagong-09, Kishoregonj-05, Meherpur-02, Comilla-06, Shariatpur-01)

4. Culled on 18/02/2008 ---

5. Culling up to 18/02/2008 8, 42, 518

http://www.mofl.gov.bd/daily_birdflu_report.pdf

[HenryN]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02190802/H5N1_Bangladesh_Spread_Continue.html

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02..._Continue.html

Commentary

H5N1 Continues to Spread In Bangladesh

Recombinomics Commentary 12:43
February 19, 2008

The outbreak at Omega farm showed the disease was out of control, industry officials said.

"Omega is one of the top farms which rigorously maintained international bio-safety regulations but it was not spared by the deadly flu," said M.M Khan, a senior official of the Bangladesh Poultry Association.

"The situation is so bad nobody is buying any poultry these days. They're panicking. The crows and migrant birds are spreading the flu everywhere, leaving authorities simply hopeless," Khan said.

The above comments describe the continuing spread of H5N1 in Bangaldesh (see satelite maps here here here). In addition to the massive cull in Dhaka involving the Omega farm described above, new culls are announced daily. In the latest report, the number of culled farms has risen to 277. It was 97 on January 16. Thus, the number of farms has almost tripled in the last month over the number of farms culled in the first 10 months of the outbreak. The number of districts with confirmed H5N1 rose from 23 to 43 in the same period.

As noted above, wild birds also contribute to the spread, raising serious questions about the lack of reported outbreaks in neighboring countries, including regions in India other than West Bengal.


.

[Treyfish]

Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" bgColor=#3366cc border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=updatetime align=middle>Wednesday, February 20, 2008 06:48 AM GMT+06:00 </TD><TD class=volnum align=right width=100></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=60> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=newspath></TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=newsdetails vAlign=top>

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Bird Flu Scare
Fish, beef, mutton on high demand

Staff Correspondent

Demand for fish, beef and mutton has shot up in the past week as consumers panicked by the spread of bird flu across the country are looking for alternatives to poultry and eggs.

The rising demands have apparently driven the prices of fish, beef and mutton upward, said retailers and restaurant owners.

"People are panicked. Many are including vegetables, beef and mutton in their meals in place of chicken and eggs," said Khandker Ruhul Amin, president of Bangladesh Hotel & Restaurant Owners' Association.

"Our suppliers are charging higher prices for beef and mutton due to the increase in demand," he said adding that suppliers are now charging an additional Tk 20 for each kilogram of beef or mutton.

The price of fish has also gone up, said Ruhul, also owner of Khandker Restaurant, adding that the overall sale of chicken at restaurants has fallen by over 50 percent.

However, people should not be panicked as much because no germ can survive in poultry or eggs when these are cooked or boiled properly -- as recommended by the government, he said.

For the last one month, Nadira Sultana Nadi, who works at an overseas education consultancy firm, did not place any chicken or egg on her family's dining table.

"We are eating fish and beef quite frequently now instead of chicken or egg. None of family members want to eat chicken now," she said.

Kamrul, a Hilsha retailer at Karwan Bazar, said the demand for fish has increased since early this month and the trend still continues. "The sales volume is higher over last month," he said

On an average, the price of a single Hilsha rose by about Tk 25, Kamrul said.

Emdad Hossain, a seller of imported Ruhi fish that is consumed widely, said the price of Ruhi has also gone up.

"The wholesalers have raised the prices. That's why we are charging higher prices," he added.

Abu Siddique, a butcher at Karwan Bazar, said on an average, he now sells around Tk 10,000 worth of mutton per day -- compared with Tk 7,000 a day earlier.

"My sales have gone up due to the higher demands resulted from the outbreak of bird flu. But the wholesalers are the ones cashing in on the rising demands by charging higher prices," he added.
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One of several CNG filling stations between Kanchpur Bridge and Jatrabari of the capital which BNP big shots built on the Kutubkhali canal, drastically reducing Dhaka's drainage capability. PHOTO: STAR --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=24158</TD></TR></TABLE>