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Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading
Editorial-I
Handling bird flu
That Bangladesh has a built-in disaster management capability is evident from the efficient way the caretaker government is handling the outbreak of bird flu in the country. Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed merits our kudos as he had summoned an emergency meeting of the Advisory Council to announce the arrival of the scourge in Bangladesh. Some quarters did criticise such a public announcement but then without official recognition of the new problem for Bangladesh, bird flu could have taken a huge toll. As a result, all in the poultry industry have swung into action to cull afflicted chicken immediately and the caretaker government has commendably created huge public awareness about it.
As it appears, Bangladesh is now at high risk of bird flu epidemic. It still continues to be a low prevalence area, but some countries like India and Thailand, where the bird flu has already entered, surround Bangladesh. Bird flu may turn out to be pandemic at the situation. So, there is a serious need to create awareness among us against such epidemic issues.It is now time for both government and private media to play an active role in creating mass awareness to combat bird flu in the country. The poultry sector has an investment of over 6,000 crore taka and 4.5 lakh families depend on it. Collective efforts are now a must to protect this principal source of protein.
Happily, chicken culling, survey, testing samples and creation of awareness in the affected areas are continuing and the overall situation is under the government’s control. No news of fresh affected area was received today. Still, farmers are afraid of attack from the bird flu and consumers are hesitant about eating eggs and chickens. The media should launch a massive publicity campaign by highlighting the overall situation prevailing in the country. Since ban on transportation of chickens and eggs from the bird flu affected areas is still in force, therefore there is no chance of their entry into markets.
The caretaker government deserves our thanks as army troops were called out to cull poultry birds because bird flu viruses were detected in more places in northern Jamalpur and suburban Narayanganj districts as intensive monitoring is underway to prevent proliferation of the avian influenza. A total of 8,180 chickens were culled on March 26 alone while the number of poultry birds destroyed so far since the detection of the bird flu viruses in the country days ago is 47,786. The samples of affected poultry birds would be sent to Britain, Thailand and South Africa, three of the five countries having ultra modern laboratory facilities to confirm avian influenza virus. The international community too is helping Bangladesh fight the bird flu in a coordinated way.
Editorial-I
Handling bird flu
That Bangladesh has a built-in disaster management capability is evident from the efficient way the caretaker government is handling the outbreak of bird flu in the country. Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed merits our kudos as he had summoned an emergency meeting of the Advisory Council to announce the arrival of the scourge in Bangladesh. Some quarters did criticise such a public announcement but then without official recognition of the new problem for Bangladesh, bird flu could have taken a huge toll. As a result, all in the poultry industry have swung into action to cull afflicted chicken immediately and the caretaker government has commendably created huge public awareness about it.
As it appears, Bangladesh is now at high risk of bird flu epidemic. It still continues to be a low prevalence area, but some countries like India and Thailand, where the bird flu has already entered, surround Bangladesh. Bird flu may turn out to be pandemic at the situation. So, there is a serious need to create awareness among us against such epidemic issues.It is now time for both government and private media to play an active role in creating mass awareness to combat bird flu in the country. The poultry sector has an investment of over 6,000 crore taka and 4.5 lakh families depend on it. Collective efforts are now a must to protect this principal source of protein.
Happily, chicken culling, survey, testing samples and creation of awareness in the affected areas are continuing and the overall situation is under the government’s control. No news of fresh affected area was received today. Still, farmers are afraid of attack from the bird flu and consumers are hesitant about eating eggs and chickens. The media should launch a massive publicity campaign by highlighting the overall situation prevailing in the country. Since ban on transportation of chickens and eggs from the bird flu affected areas is still in force, therefore there is no chance of their entry into markets.
The caretaker government deserves our thanks as army troops were called out to cull poultry birds because bird flu viruses were detected in more places in northern Jamalpur and suburban Narayanganj districts as intensive monitoring is underway to prevent proliferation of the avian influenza. A total of 8,180 chickens were culled on March 26 alone while the number of poultry birds destroyed so far since the detection of the bird flu viruses in the country days ago is 47,786. The samples of affected poultry birds would be sent to Britain, Thailand and South Africa, three of the five countries having ultra modern laboratory facilities to confirm avian influenza virus. The international community too is helping Bangladesh fight the bird flu in a coordinated way.
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