Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat
Re: BANGLADESH: Return of the bird flu threat
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Govt terms avian influenza situation `pre-pandemic': US to provide 24,500 more PPE[/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=center align=left>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
DHAKA, Bangladesh, Feb 13 (BSS) - Bangladesh government at a high-level meeting today termed the bird flu situation as `pre-pandemic' and sought support from development partners to contain the disease that already affected 41 districts since February last year.[/FONT]
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"Bangladesh is in the pre-pandemic condition now as 140 outbreaks of bird flu have occurred during last one year," Dr Mehedi Hussain of Department of Livestock said on a power point presentation at a meeting here.[/FONT]
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Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock organised the meeting to review the ongoing prevention and control measures of bird flu, which has forced authorities to cull 581,286 chickens, ducks, pigeons and destroy as many eggs during last 12 months in the country. [/FONT]
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Chief Adviser's Special Assistant for Livestock Manik Lal Samaddar, Livestock Secretary Ataur Rahman, Mission Director of US Agency for International Development (USAID) Denise Rollins, Food and Agriculture Representative of the UN to Bangladesh AD Spijkers, Country Representative of World Health Organization Duangvade Sangkhobol and representatives from the UNICEF, Asian Development Bank and European Commission were present.[/FONT]
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"You are not alone, We are with you," assured FAO representative Ad Spijkers at the meeting, adding that the present communication strategy was inadequate to make people aware and protect the poultry sector. He said the communication programme should be revised and revitalized. [/FONT]
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He also said a concerted effort is a must to keep the situation under full control, without giving any chance to turn it into a pandemic situation, where H5N1 virus can transmit from human to human. [/FONT]
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USAID Mission Director Rollins said her government and the US Army have already sent 16,500 personal protection equipment (PPE) to Bangladesh and 24,500 more would reach by March. [/FONT]
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"I can assure that 4,500 PPE will reach by February 22 and the rest 20,000 by March," she said, adding that a core team on communication should be formed so that it can help develop emergency communication strategies to face future risks. [/FONT]
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Manik Lal said the risk communication has become a major issue to tackle the present situation where effective communication materials can remove fears from the minds of people to consume poultry foods as usual. The poultry consumption has been witnessing a sharp decline after recent outbreaks across the country, he added. [/FONT]
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"Please convey the message that fully-boiled eggs and chicken meats are safe to eat," he said at the meeting, apparently pointing to the UNICEF that has been developing communication materials. He also said the government has been putting more emphasis on biosecurity measures at farms and mass awareness.[/FONT]
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Ataur Rahman said the government has been attaching high importance to protecting the poultry sector, which has about 220 million chickens, and 37 million ducks and employs five million people directly. Millions of households also rely on poultry production for income and food. He sought suggestions and cooperation from development partners to face the situation.[/FONT]
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Livestock ministry sources said they are in need of community animal health workers (CAHW) at field levels, 20,000 more PPE, 7,000 hand gloves, 7,000 masks, 160 vehicles, detection kits and improved lab facilities to control the disease at the earliest. [/FONT]
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On a demand from the government, the FAO and Palli Karma Shahayak Protishthan (PKSF) promised to provide 450 CAHW on an adhoc basis up to June this year. :tiphat: [/FONT]
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