Bangladesh: Surveillance programme detected 60 pct of bird flu outbreaks last year

[Shiloh]

Source: http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=153444&cid=2

Surveillance programme detected 60 pct of bird flu outbreaks last year
Thu, Feb 11th, 2010 5:47 pm BdST

Dhaka, Feb 11 (bdnews24.com) ? A joint surveillance programme of the Department of Livestock and FAO has been successful in detecting two out of every three bird flu outbreaks in Bangladesh, enabling livestock officials to respond quickly and prevent spread of the disease.

The surveillance programme, which detected 21 of the 35 outbreaks of bird flu in 2009, has been recognised nationally and internationally as an effective tool of disease control.

As part of their collaboration, the two organisations arranged a four-day bird flu surveillance workshop at the Department of Agriculture in Dhaka from Wednesday for 105 upazila livestock officers.

Mat Yamage, chief technical adviser of the FAO avian influenza control programme, while presiding over the inaugural session said: "This is the season when outbreaks of bird flu can occur and timely interventions are required to contain them".

Md Habibur Rahman, director general and chief veterinary officer of the Department of Livestock Services, was the chief guest at USAID-funded workshop.

Resource persons discussed the current bird flu situation in Bangladesh, characteristics of the bird flu virus, clinical signs of the disease and control measures to contain its outbreak.

Habibur described economic importance of the poultry industry and said it provides an important source of affordable food to Bangladeshi people.

He said timely actions are required to respond to, contain, and eradicate outbreaks of bird flu.

bdnews24.com/sr/rah/1743h

[Pathfinder]

Re: Bangladesh: Surveillance programme detected 60 pct of bird flu outbreaks last year

Bangladesh still runs risk of Avian flu


UNB, Dhaka

Though Avian Influenza situation in Bangladesh remains stable with significantly less outbreaks during 2009-10, but Bangladesh still faces the risks of further outbreak as it is probable that the virus exists in dormancy, as 50 % of the national poultry flock is backyard poultry.

The World Bank in a release today said the country has a large duck population (about 39 million) and is visited annually by about 21 species of migratory birds that can carry the virus. These coupled with the fact that Bangladesh has a high population density, contributes to building up the threat of future AI outbreaks.

It said the government has initiated the 'Avian Influenza Preparedness and Response Project (AIPRP)' to address the threat posed by the virus to humans. The AIRRP, co-financed by the World Bank and Avian and Human Influenza Trust Fund (AHI TF), started its operation since October 2007.

The project is aligned with the Government's National Avian and Pandemic Influence Preparedness and Response Plan, which identifies priorities and reflects what needs to be done to contain and control the disease.

While the AIPRP is focusing on animal health related activities, the ongoing World Bank supported 'Health, Nutrition and Population Support Program (HNPSP)' under the Ministry of Health is financing AI-activities related to human health.

To ensure the achievement of the Project outcomes, the World Bank has urged the government to accelerate its project implementation pace.

It has been suggested that a contract be signed with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to provide Technical Assistance (TA) to mobilize technical teams and provide implementation support, key consultants need to be recruited to strengthen the Project Co-ordination Unit and ensure speedy progress of the project.

The WB said uninterrupted continuation of the ongoing surveillance activities in 260 Upazilas , and carrying out a co-ordinated training program for various stakeholders also remains top priorities at this phase of the project implementation.

It said the Bank is working closely with other development partners including USAID, FAO, WHO, and UNICEF to combat avian flu. The World Bank aims to complement the activities of donors focusing on surveillance and containment of the virus.

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2010/04/05/news0914.htm

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Bangladesh: Surveillance programme detected 60 pct of bird flu outbreaks last year

Bird flu vaccine not used in Bangladesh

Though Avian Influenza situation in Bangladesh remains stable with significantly less outbreaks during 2009-10, but Bangladesh still faces the risks of further outbreak as it is probable that the virus exists in dormancy, as 50 % of the national poultry flock is backyard poultry.

For years, the poultry breeders? association has requested the government to allow the import of bird flu vaccines (which poultry breeders and farmers can use to protect their chickens from bird flu). If the government allows the import of these vaccines, breeders (and farmers) would quickly return to utilising their full production capacity. ...
The government has refused to allow the import of vaccines on the grounds that vaccination will not eradicate bird flu in Bangladesh (because no one will vaccinate the millions of backyard chickens owned by rural families)