Bangladesh - H5N1 Mar 16th - Mar 29th

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Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Chickens of six more farms culled
Kazi Zahidul Hasan

Poultry of six more firms in Savar in the neighbourhood of the avian flu hit Biman-owned farm were culled on Sunday to stem the spread of the deadly disease.
Official sources said the bird flu monitoring cell in cooperation with the joint forces culled all the birds of the six farms located within the radius of one kilometre from the Biman farm, where country’s first case of bird flu was detected just a couple of days back.
Industry people said now there is nothing to worry about as the government and the private sector have taken adequate precautionary measures to check the outbreak of the disease.
“We have got fully prepared to check the outbreak of the disease and with the help of law enforcers a large number of chickens of the affected poultry farms were culled,” said Syed Abu Siddique, Secretary of Bangladesh Poultry Association.
He urged the poultry owners and the people of the country not to get panicked over the disease. He also urged the media to play a constructive role by publishing correct news in this regard.
A monitoring cell has already been formed, with District Livestock Officer Dr Fazlul Haque Khan as its head, to detect bird flu in Dhaka district following the detection of bird flu attack in Savar. The cell will monitor the situation and report every 24 hours to the centre.
The cell asked the Upazila livestock officers to seal off the hatcheries found to be affected by the disease.
Administration officials at a meeting in Dhaka also imposed embargo on taking out poultry 10 kilometres out of a farm.
According to association sources, the size of country’s poultry industry is around Tk 7,000 crore with around 1.30 lakh poultry farms and four lakh employment, directly and indirectly. The farms produce 25.00 crore broilers and 600 crore eggs per year, they said.
There are 5,000 poultry farms and 20 hatcheries in the district. No bird flu attack was detected in the district till Saturday.
Deputy Commissioner Al Nuri Fayezur Reza held a meeting with the owners of poultry farms and hatcheries on Sunday to discuss the issue.
Official sources said Jirani area has been declared an “infected area” for three months under the Bangladesh Animal Diseases Law, 2005.
District Livestock Officer Dr Kafiluddin Bhuiyan received a letter in this regard from the acting DG of Livestock Directorate.
Panicked by the detection of bird flue virus the poultry owners have been rushing to the Livestock hospital in the district to carry out postmortem of their chickens.
Veterinary surgeon Dr Jahirul Islam said postmortem of over 100 chickens of 28 poultry farms was done at the sadar Livestock hospital Saturday, but bird flu was not detected in any of those chickens.
The District Livestock Officer made a requisition to the Civil Surgeon for 2,000 preventive capsules for protecting the officials involved with the detection of the disease and treatment of chickens, but only 100 capsules were given.
Meanwhile, an orientation programme has been taken up to check the spread of bird flu among the human population.
However, the government has decided to compensate the flu affected farm owners.

newstoday-bd.com

 

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Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Export orders cancelled after bird flu detection

[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Monday March 26 2007 07:08:24 AM BDT[/FONT]


Refayet Ullah Mirdha


Bangladesh has lost its export markets of poultry birds following detection of the bird flu in some farms at Savar off the city recently.The country used to export poultry birds worth more than Tk 200 million (20 crore) a year, (Financial Express)

especially to some countries of Middle East and Nepal.

The Kazi Farms Group, the pioneer in export of poultry birds, has cancelled the order for poultry export worth US$ 4,000 to Nepal recently due to detection of the bird flu, said Director of the group Kazi Zahin while talking to the FE Sunday.

"The consignment of parent stocks was scheduled to head for Nepal soon. But it was stopped after detection of the bird flu virus Thursday last," Zahin added.

The Kazi Farms Group started to export the day-old chicks and hatching poultry birds to Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Yemen and Bahrain two years ago, when those countries stopped import of all kinds of poultry birds from India, Myanmar, Pakistan and some other countries after detection of the virus earlier there.

The Kazi Farms Group was followed by a Chittagong-based poultry farm, which also started to export day-old chicks and hatching birds to those countries, he mentioned.

Bangladesh could have exported poultry birds worth $ 4,000 a week if the country wanted. But the farmers could hardly meet the local demand for poultry birds, he observed.

So the export markets of poultry birds remained limited, although the country had the potential to expand it, he said.

"We are hopeful the country will be avian flu-free soon and the momentum in poultry business will be restored," Zahin said.

In the local markets the prices of poultry birds declined significantly over the last two days due to the avian flu fear.

When asked, Khokan Mia, a wholesale poultry trader at the city's Kaptan Bazar, said a poultry bird was selling at Tk 60-70 per kg compared to the previous rate of Tk 100-110 per kg.

He feared that the prices would decline further, if the people could not be made aware that the viral flu would not cause any harm to the humans if boiled properly.

"I used to sell poultry birds worth Tk 40,000-50,000 daily. But now I cannot sell poultry birds worth even Tk 7,000 as the consumers are not buying them as before following detection of the bird flu," Mia said.

The supply of poultry birds from the countryside declined substantially, as the farmers were worried.

The farmers belonging to the marginal group, who established farms borrowing money from banks, will not be able to repay their loans, he feared.

When asked, secretary general of Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association (BPIA) Syed Abu Siddique said the damage done to the poultry sector by the avian flu threat has not yet been assessed.

"But we (the farmers and businessmen) have been following the instructions given by the government for fighting the flu," he added.

The bird flu might not do a great harm to the local poultry business. Many countries of the world also experienced the threat in recent times and overcame the problem successfully, he mentioned.

Currently, there is a ban on import of poultry birds of all kinds from 56 countries of the world.

Sources in the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry said they have been working on finding out the causes of the sudden death of a good number of poultry birds in two farms in Narayanganj and Jamalpur respectively.

The ministry sources said they have received the inspection reports of 977 farms across the country and did not find any new affected farms until Sunday. Earlier, they identified six bird flu-affected farms in Savar and Gazipur.

The officials of the ministry concerned examined 17,989,22 poultry birds across the country until Sunday and a total of total 39, 264 poultry birds were culled so far.

Only a year ago Rabiya Rahman and her husband Abdur Rahman started their first business venture-a poultry farm at Shardaganj of Savar, according to bdnews24.com.

They put together about Tk 2.0 million (20 lakh) in loans from a bank and relatives and built the farmhouses on their idle land adjacent to their home in Madrasapara.

Business was good, they received orders for chicken from local brokers and their supply was quite satisfactory.

But before they could even repay their first instalment of the bank loan, all hell broke loose on them.

On the night of March 11, some 1,000 chickens in one of the three blocks died within a few hours. The Rahmans struggled to keep the chickens alive, watching the chickens die in dozens.

"It was terrible to see the chickens die. I wondered what had happened. In the evening I had seen the chickens run around and they appeared healthy," Abdur Rahman said.

By noon the day after, chickens in the second block started falling sick and the couple feared a repeat of the horrors of the previous day. They called a local veterinarian but by the time help arrived another 1,500 chickens perished.

By late evening on March 13, the rest of the chickens in the first block also perished.

The Rahmans lost chickens, ready for sale, worth Tk 800 thousand, according to their estimates and they now have no way to get over the losses as the government has ordered a moratorium on all activities in farms affected by avian flu that has also affected five other poultry farms in the neighbourhood.

The avian flu mystery unfolded when Biman Poultry Complex, not very far from the Rahmans' farm, reported sickness of their poultry that led to culling of more than 30,000 chickens.

The affected farms are Bhuiyan Poultry Farm and Happy Poultry Farm in Savar and PSBB Ayesha, Rahman Poultry and Monir Hossain Poultry Farms in Gazipur

bangledesh.web.com

 

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Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Bird flu spreads to new farms 40,000 chickens culled so far
Staff Correspondent

Bird flu has been detected in three poultry farms in Jamalpur district while samples were collected for test from Narayangonj where some 820 chickens were affected.
This was disclosed at a press briefing by Livestock Secretary Syed Ataur Rahman at the secretariat on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the authorities have culled a total of 39,264 hens affected by avian influenza.
Bird flu has been detected in a total of 9 farms. Of them, 4 are in Savar, 2 in Gajipur and 3 in Jamalpur, sources said.

the bangledeshtoday.com

 

[Treyfish]

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=newsdetails vAlign=top>Bird flu found in Jamalpur farms
9,000 chickens already sold
Staff Correspondent

Avian Influenza virus has been detected in three poultry farms in Jamalpur, senior officials of the Department of Livestock Services disclosed yesterday quoting a laboratory report.
The director general of the of livestock department yesterday afternoon submitted the report to the fisheries and livestock secretary seeking directives for initiating preventive measures in Jamalpur where the virus had been detected following similar detections in six poultry farms in Savar and Gazipur a few days earlier.
"We received the report from Thailand on Saturday and have come to submit it to the ministry," Sunil Chandra Ghosh, director general of the Department of Livestock Services told reporters yesterday in a news briefing arranged by the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock in its conference room.
Dr Mohammad Abdul Motaleb, director of administration and animal health of the livestock department, said 9,000 chickens of the three Jamalpur poultry farms had been sold already before the lab report came.

The senior officials however did not give any detail about the three poultry farms as Fisheries and Livestock Secretary Syed Ataur Rahman interrupted them. A minute before, the secretary said, "Samples from Naryanganj and Jamalpur were sent to Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute for tests and results will be known today."
Livestock Adviser CS Karim yesterday in an interview with the Bangla Service of BBC Radio said, "At 4:00pm today, we received information regarding apprehension of Bird Flu in Jamalpur. But it has not been confirmed yet."
"A team will visit the farms in Jamalpur. The team will confirm us about the apprehension and if the virus is detected there, it will initiate measures for culling," the adviser said.

The adviser also said the government will seek cooperation from the international community if the situation spins out of control.
A special meeting of the council of advisers to the caretaker government on March 22 disclosed that Avian Influenza virus, popularly known as Bird Flu, had been detected in a poultry farm in Savar on the outskirts of the capital.
Since the detection of Bird Flu virus in the state-run Biman Poultry Complex, a huge number of chickens of six poultry farms in Savar and Gazipur have been culled.
In the news briefing yesterday, the fisheries and livestock secretary said officials of the livestock department have so far visited 977 poultry farms, which have a total of 17.98 lakh chickens. Till Saturday, a total of 39, 264 Bird Flu affected chickens were culled in six poultry farms in Savar and Gazipur. Also 30,720 eggs have been destroyed in a farm, he said.
"Around 100 Bird Flu affected chickens were culled in Gazipur area today," the secretary added.
He said all the deputy commissioners informed the ministry that they have launched awareness programmes to prevent panic among the people.
About the present situation in Narayanganj, the secretary said the deputy commissioner of the district in a report claimed that 820 chickens died there. "The reasons behind the deaths were not identified," he said.
Before the disclosure by the livestock department, the secretary claimed that the situation is under control and the Bird Flu virus was not detected anywhere else in the country other than Savar and Gazipur.
The secretary however tried to stop the senior officials of the livestock department from talking about the detection of Avian Influenza in Jamalpur.
Our Gazipur correspondent reported that although no farm raised chicken was culled in any poultry farm there, more than a hundred free range chickens were culled in Gazipur yesterday within a kilometre radius of the infected farms.
The report added that officials of the livestock department had bought larger free range chickens from their owners for Tk 80, the medium ones for Tk 60 and the small ones for Tk 15 and culled them. They conducted the drive in Kashimpur, Latifpur and Panishail areas of the district.
Meanwhile, owners of Bhai Bhai Poultry Farm and Dulal Poultry Farm applied to the district livestock office for compensations. The owner of Bhai Bhai Farm claimed Tk 23,89,000 for his 39,030 chickens while the owner of Dulal claimed Tk 2,52,000 for his 1,874 chickens that had been culled on Saturday.
The authorities have formed three Rapid Response Committees led by upazila livestock officers (ULO) which conducted surveys on 90,000 chickens of 38 farms in Gazipur yesterday. The teams tested some chickens on the basis of suspicions of Bird Flu infection but they did not get any sign of Avian Influenza there, the report added.
FARDIN FARM
No less than 2,100 chickens died between March 12 and March 16 in Fardin Farm in the Basan area under Gazipur upazila headquarters.
The owner of the farm claimed a compensation of Tk 3,57,000 but District Livestock Officer Dr Kafiluddin Bhuiyan said no sign of his farm being infected by the virus had been found.
Owners of three poultry farms are going to be punished in the district as they hid information of their chickens' deaths. They also hid some chickens in a sugarcane field near the farms.
Our Naraynaganj correspondent reported that another farm was found in the district where chickens died due to 'undetected reasons' in Kalyandi village under Bandar police station.
Akther Hossain, owner of the farm, informed the district livestock officer that his 250 layer hens died in the last few days. But the district livestock officer said those died due to 'undetected reasons'.
The district livestock officer sent samples from that farm to Dhaka for tests of Bird Flu virus. Earlier another farm was found in Narayanganj where around 5,000 chickens had died. Our Khulna correspondent reported that the Bird Flu Control Room in the district has yet to receive any case of flu from any of the 55,000 poultry farms in the district. Quoting the district livestock officer Dr Obaidul Karim told The Daily Star yesterday afternoon that they have taken all sorts of precautionary measures to prevent an outbreak of Bird Flu in the poultry farms. However, panic already gripped the consumers of poultry products in the district. Prices of chickens have already dropped by 25 to 30 percent in the local market within the last 48 hours.

</TD><TD vAlign=top align=right width=180></TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>the daily star .net

 

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Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Series of steps ordered to check bird flu spread
Saturday March 24 2007 08:50:04 AM BDT[/font]


Authorities Friday ordered a series of steps including poultry culling and health examination of people at inflicted poultry farms a day after the government announced the detection of bird flu at suburban Savar, report agencies.(News Today)

"By now you are aware of the outbreak of the avian influenza or bird flu at several poultry farms in Savar. The government agencies concerned took urgent steps soon after the detection of flu at the farms," Health Adviser Maj Gen (retd) Dr Motiur Rahman told a press conference also joined by Agriculture and Livestock Adviser Dr CS Karim
and officials concerned.

The agriculture adviser told the newsmen under the urgent steps taken so far over 33,000 poultry were culled and buried in the six inflicted farms, people''s movement were restricted around the poultry ranches and conducting "chemo-profiling" and health examination, and monitoring of those handled inflicted poultry birds.

Dr Motiur, however, said preparations were under way from two years ago to face such situation and the authorities
undertook a series of steps to prevent further proliferation of the flu, which so far attacked 60 countries in Asia and Europe with Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia being the last victims.

Dr Karim said the authorities also ordered stamping out and disinfecting all poultry ranches around one kilometre radius of the afflicted firms, ban on transportation of poultry birds, chickens, eggs and pet birds to anywhere from within 10 kilometre radius in the affected area through virtual fencing and collection of people engaged in the flu inflicted ranches.

He said the joint forces were asked to come in aide of the district administrations to carry out "intensive and constant" monitoring against the avian flu across the country while the agriculture and livestock and the health ministry opened round the clock control rooms to monitor the development.

Following an urgent cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed the authorities last night confirmed the outbreak of the H5N1 subtype of bird flu that so far killed 169 people and attacked 281 others in 60 countries.

World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Dhaka Dr Duangvadee Sungkhobol also joined the briefing and said the high population density exposed Bangladesh to intensified avian influenza but through "aggressive actions" involving all stakeholders and massive public awareness could help the South Asian country to overcome the crisis.
"We are very concerned because of the population density of the country," she said but hastened to add that the proliferation of the disease could be prevented through culling with cooperation of poultry farm owners alongside people''s awareness and other "aggressive actions".
Both the health and agriculture advisers urged the people not to get panicked with the outbreak of avian flu as the human infliction of avian influenza were not reported from anywhere in South Asia including India despite the outbreak of the bird flu.
They referred to studies by experts saying that the chickens or eggs of even the flu-inflicted poultry birds were safe after proper cooking provided the people handling them properly clean their hands and bury the poultry remnants underground.
Yet, Dr Motiur said, the Mohakhali Chest Hospital was kept prepared after massive mock exercises to treat possible avian flu patients while a large number of doctors were already trained to detect bird flu patients to be referred to the facility in Dhaka.
The adviser said there would be no dearth of drugs to treat people if required, a notion supported by the WHO representative, but said vaccines needed to save the poultry birds could appear a little expensive.
Dr Karim said currently the poultry industry involves some two billion dollars while the number of poultry birds at farms and households was estimated to be 20 crore and four lakh people were directly dependent on the poultry industry, considered a budding sector with a growth rate of about 60 percent.
Experts said there 15 strains of flu that affect birds, but the one causing the amplifying global scare is the H5N1 subtype, highly lethal to domesticated birds. It has circulated in migrating wild birds for years and has spread to poultry flocks, starting in Southeast Asia, spreading to Russia and other parts of Europe and Asia.
Avian flu was first identified in Italy around a century ago. It was not thought to be transmissible to humans until 1997, when the first human cases were seen in Hong Kong, also involving H5N1.
In the latest outbreak, around 60 people in Asia died, amounting to roughly half the known number of infections, which is a very high fatality rate.
Almost all these casualties were directly exposed to infected fowl, making contact with the virus through the birds'' saliva, nasal secretions and faeces, which become dry, pulverised and are then inhaled. Avian flu is not a food-borne virus, so the risk from eating properly cooked chicken is negligible.
According to the WHO bird flu in humans causes symptoms that are like human flu, such as fever, cough, sore throat and muscle aches, conjunctivitis, pneumonia and other severe respiratory diseases.
At present, H5N1 is not easily transmitted from bird to human as a person would have to pick up a lot of virus in order to be infected. Nor is it easily passed from human to human: there have been only three suspected cases, in Thailand, Hong Kong and Vietnam, where this is believed to have happened.
WHO experts said the big worry, though, is that H5N1 could pick up genes from conventional human flu viruses, making it both highly lethal and highly infectious. Because it would be a radically new pathogen, no one would have any immunity to it.
"In such case the situation would go beyond anybody''s control as it happened in 1919 when the avian influenza pandemic claimed at least 50 million human lives," said the health adviser, himself a doctor and public health specialist.

UNB adds: Some 5,600 chickens of three poultry farms were
culled on Friday in Savar on the outskirts of the capital following
the recent detection of bird flu at a government-owned poultry farm.
Sources said officials of Livestock Department destroyed 2,700
chickens of Friends Poultry Farm while 2,500 of Happy Poultry and 423
of Ainal Haque''s farm, situated one kilometer radius of the Biman
farm where the Avian Influenza virus was detected first.
The chickens were culled by using carbon dioxide gas and then
buried in nearby areas, official sources said.
Meanwhile, the Livestock Department has formed a 20-member Rapid Response Team (RRT), headed by Dhaka District Livestock Officer Munshi M Enamul Haque, to keep vigilance on the poultry farms in the areas.
Livestock Department Director (Admin) Abdul Motaleb, Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Mosaddek Ali, Dhaka District Livestock Officer Munshi M Enamul Haque and Deputy Director of Dhaka District Livestock
Department Dr Fani Bhusan Mondal were present during the culling.
Members of the joint forces also went to the spot and prevented the
people from entering in the affected farm areas.

bangledesh-web.com

 

[Treyfish]

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Khaleda cancels her Independence Day programmes




She cancels a trip to a h5n1 infected area

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was learnt to have cancelled her programme at the National Mausoleum at Savar to pay homage to the martyrs of the liberation war on the Independence Day today (Monday), reports UNB.
She also dropped her programme at slain President Ziaur Rahman''s mazar on the occasion. According to her previous schedule, Khaleda was to visit both the places.
When contacted a senior BNP leader told UNB on condition of anonymity that Begum Zia did not get security clearance from the authorities concerned to visit those places.
BNP senior leaders, however, will place wreaths at the National Mausoleum and offer fateha at Shaheed President Zia''s mazar.:tiphat:

newstoday-bd.com

 

[Treyfish]

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

4,000 chickens destroyed at Sharishabari
By UNB, Jamalpur
Mon, 26 Mar 2007, 12:26:00



About 4,000 chickens affected by the bird flu were destroyed under the earth today (Monday).

The affected chickens were buried under the earth in the evening in presence of senior officials of the livestock department.

Officials said 15 poultry farms in Sharishabari upazila were affected the disease. Earlier, 6,000 chickens were destroyed.

Investigation continued to detect the disease in all the poultry farms in Jamalpur district.

nation.ittefaq.com

 

[Niko]

No human cases

No human cases

Bangladesh says no human case of bird flu

<!-- END HEADLINE --><!-- BEGIN STORY BODY --> March 27, 2007

There has been no human case of bird flu in Bangladesh, the health ministry said on Monday, after an outbreak of the H5N1 virus in nine poultry farms near the capital set off a scare in the densely populated country.

Blood samples of a number of workers at the farms, where the deadly virus was confirmed among chickens last week, tested negative for the deadly virus, Health Secretary Ehsan Ul Fattah told Reuters. The test was carried out at a local laboratory.

Bangladesh has already culled some 50,000 chickens since confirming the outbreak in the farms near the capital Dhaka and northern Jamalpur district.
"There is no human infection of the avian flu," Fattah said.

He said the country had sufficient stocks of flu drug Tamiflu and farm workers as well people living in nearby areas were being monitored closely.

The health ministry urged the media not to create panic after local newspapers and residents reported more chickens had become ill or had died, although not on a large scale.

At least 170 people have died of bird flu in 60 countries, mostly in Asia since 2003, media and other reports said. Health experts fear the virus could trigger a pandemic if it mutates to form a strain that can transmit between humans.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070327/india_nm/india292329_1;_ylt=A9G_RxAmkwhGBCoBHRSTvyIi

 

[HenryN]

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Bangladesh seeks assistance with bird flu testing<!-- noindex -->

Bangladesh has called for international help to upgrade bird flu testing as the country battles a large outbreak of the disease in poultry.

C.S. Karim, head of the fisheries and livestock ministry, said: "We have invited donor representatives to a meeting today to discuss the situation and formally ask their assistance."

Samples are sent to the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute but the laboratory cannot do the full range of testing needed to confirm the presence of the H5N1 bird flu virus.

Samples have to be sent to Bangkok for confirmation, a costly and time-consuming step.

Reuters news agency reports, a veterinary expert saying the virus could be detected two weeks earlier if they had the appropriate technology.

About 55,000 chickens have been culled since the outbreak of avian flu was confirmed in nine farms near the capital Dhaka and northern Jamalpur district last week. No humans have been confirmed to have the virus.

A UN official said they suspected bird flu had been raging in the country for several weeks or months before authorities could confirm it.

Bangladesh needed equipment and training for the staff at the laboratory, another official of the fisheries and livestock ministry said.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1884131.htm

 

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Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

People advised to take precautions against 'bird flu'
FE Report
3/28/2007

The government has advised the people to take precautionary measures to avoid being attacked by bird flu virus.
At the regular briefing held Tuesday, the officials of various ministries and departments advised the people to buy healthy and fresh poultry birds and wash their hands with soap after slaughtering those.
In a press statement they asked the people to wash knives and utensils before and after slaughtering the birds and to bury the feathers and other inedible wastes.
The statement also suggested the farmers for wearing masks before entering into their farms, restrain the children from coming into direct contacts with poultry birds, refrain from eating half-boiled eggs and partly cooked meat and to cook meat in high temperature.But, the officials advised in the press statement to eat poultry meat and eggs for nutrition.

Meanwhile, in its regular drive against the bird flu, the field officers of the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry culled a good number of poultry birds in two farms, one in Narayanganj and another in Jamalpur Monday last.
Our Chittagong correspondent adds: No 'bird flu' virus has been detected in Chittagong.
Chittagong District Livestock office and Veterinary specialists sources said, there is nothing to be worried about as 60 degree Celsius temperature is enough to kill the avian virus while normal cooking temperature is 100 degree Celsius.
UNB adds: Bird flu panic spread over the district following death of 500 chickens in two poultry farms at Morelganj upazila from Monday to Saturday.
Local livestock office sources said 442 chickens of a poultry farm of Nasiruddin Molla at West Saralia village died on Monday, while 100 died in another farm of Saydur Rahman at North Putikhali village on Saturday.
The samples of dead chickens were sent to Dhaka central livestock diseases laboratory for testing whether the birds were affected by bird flu.

financialexpress-db.com
_________________

 

[hawkeye]

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Bangladesh deploys army to fight bird flu epidemic

Dhaka, March 28 (DPA) Army was called out in Bangladesh Wednesday to help in culling tens of thousands of poultry as the deadly H1N5 virus, commonly called bird flu, spread to new areas in the country, health officials said.

The soldiers were given strict instructions to supervise and monitor the destruction of the fowls infected with the virus.

"The army's assistance has been sought to better tackle the bird flu challenge facing the country," said C S Karim, Health Adviser to the interim government.

Karim said the Health Ministry's manpower resources and logistical facilities were already stretched while the infection was travelling fast to new areas.

The situation became more critical after the report claimed that the virus had stricken more than 1000 small poultry farms in central and eastern districts in Bangladesh.

About 50,000 chicken were culled in Bangladesh since the detection of bird flu infection in the South Asian country two weeks ago.

About half a million people, engaged in the poultry industry, were under the threat of losing jobs as farm owners were reporting a rapid decline in sales of fowls.

 

[Jonesie]

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Indigenous chicken genetic resources in Bangladesh: current status and future outlook​

A.K.F.H. Bhuiyan M.S.A. Bhuiyan & G.K. Deb


Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics Bangladesh Agricultural University
Mymensingh 2202 Bangladesh

Summary

Livestock especially poultry is a promising sector for poverty reduction in Bangladesh. Approximately 140 millions chickens are scattered throughout 68 000 villages in the country mostly of indigenous non-descript type. The production system for indigenous chickens is smallholder backyard scavenging in nature with each family keeping an average of 6-7 chickens to meet family requirements and from which a cash income can also be derived when necessary. Indigenous chickens produce about 75% of the eggs and 78% of the meat consumed domestically. Among said indigenous chicken genetic resources non-descript Deshi Aseel and Naked Neck breeds are noteworthy

The non-descript Deshi chicken constitutes about 90% of the indigenous population. Also known as ‘Murghi’ they have undergone unknown periods of natural selection and are a reservoir of excellent genetic diversity. They show high levels of morphological and phenotypic variability and increased fitness under natural settings. Studies reveal that they may be regarded as one breed or population because of the small genetic distances among them. Deshi chickens are characterized by black (75%) and red (25%) plumage colour; black (39%) yellow (32%) and white (29%) shank color; black (99%) eye color; bright red (59%) and pale (41%) comb colour; white (82%) and yellow (17%) skin colour; no definite (61%) and lacing (17%) feather pattern; medium (70%) and large (19%) body size; single comb (97%) and rudimentary spur (98%); medium egg size (80%); light brown (67%) and white (27%) egg shell colour. Regarding production traits Deshi chickens have average hatch weight of 29 g; body weight at 4 8 12 weeks; weekly weight gain (0-12 weeks) of respectively of 77 175 315 24 grams; age at first egg (175 days); weight of pullet (0.9 kg); mature body weight (1.3 kg); hatchability (52%); fertility (83%); annual egg production (45 -50 eggs); 9% mortality up to 500 days of age.

The indigenous chicken population of Bangladesh has been undergoing genetic erosion since the 1960s following the introduction of improved stock from developed countries. Efforts to sustain commercial hybrid broiler and layer chicken farming under intensive and semi-intensive production models have been tested but efficiency of systematic characterization screening breed improvement and conservation programmes with the indigenous Deshi chickens at the smallholder village levels (in-situ) of Bangladesh are yet to be tested. Such an initiative may help to save these creatures from the grip of the threat of extinction. This in turn may help to sustain village chicken production system in Bangladesh and could be a useful micro-economic strategy in the on-going poverty alleviation process in the country.

Résumé

L'élevage et en particulier l'élevage de volailles est un secteur important pour la réduction de la pauvreté au Bangladesh. Environ 140 millions de poulets sont élevés dans 68.000 villages la plupart appartenant à des races indigènes sans description du type. Le système de production des poulets indigènes est constitué de petites unités au sol avec une moyenne par élevage fermier de 6-7 poulets pour couvrir les besoins de la famille avec possibilité si nécessaire d'un revenu. Les races indigènes produisent environ 75% des oeufs et 78% de la viande consommés par famille. Mises à part ces ressources génétiques indigènes il faut aussi souligner l'importance de races non décrites de Deshi Aseel et Naked Neck.

La race non décrite Deshi représente environ 90% de la population indigène. Bien connue aussi comme "Murghi" ces populations ont été soumises à des périodes de sélection naturelle et représentent un excellent réservoir de diversité génétique. Le niveau de variabilité morphologique et phénotypique est élevé et en conditions naturelles on observe une amélioration de l'état physique. Des études ont indiqué qu'on peut les considérer comme une seule race ou population étant donné la courte distance génétique entre elles. Les poulets Deshi possèdent un plumage noir (75%) et rouge (25%); des pattes noires (39%) jaunes (32%) et blanches (29%); des yeux noirs (99%); une crête rouge intense (59%) ou pâle (41%); une peau blanche (82%) et jaune (17%); forme du plumage non défini (61%) et défini (17%); taille corporelle moyenne (70%) et grande (19%); crête unique (97%) et ergot rudimentaire (98%); taille des oeufs moyenne (67%); couleur de la coquille des oeufs brune (67%) et blanche (27%). En ce qui concerne la production les poulets Deshi pèsent en moyenne à l'éclosion 29 gr.; le poids corporel à la semaine 4 8 et 12 avec un gain de poids par semaine (0-12 semaines) respectivement de 77 175 315 24 gr.; âge à la première ponte d'œufs (175 jours); poids de la poulette (0,90 kg); poids corporel à la maturité (1,3 kg); niveau d'éclosion (54%); fertilité (83%); production annuelle d'œufs (45-50 œufs); 9% de mortalité jusqu'à 500 jours d'âge.

Depuis les années 60 la population indigène de poulet au Bangladesh a subi une érosion génétique à cause de l'introduction de races améliorées en provenance des pays développés. Des efforts ont été fait pour encouragé la commercialisation des hybrides de poulets d'engrais et de ponte en conditions de production intensives et semi-intensives mais l'efficacité de la caractérisation systématique la sélection l'amélioration de race et les programmes de conservation avec les poulets Deshi dans les conditions d'environnement au niveau des villages (in-situ) du Bangladesh doivent encore être testés. Ce genre d'initiative peut aider à sauver ces animaux de l'extinction. En même temps cela permettrait d'aider la production de poulets au niveau des villages du Bangladesh tout en étant utile pour la stratégie micro-économique du procès de réduction de la pauvreté dans le pays.


Introduction

The economy of Bangladesh heavily depends on its agricultural resources. Livestock is the most viable sector in the economy of the four sub-sectors of agriculture (crop livestock fisheries and forestry). At present livestock contributes 6.5% to GDP on the basis of value added through its production of milk eggs meat and hides and skins. Poultry production and poultry related industry contributes most significantly to the total livestock sector in Bangladesh some 21% of the total livestock contribution whereas the livestock sub-sector contributed 12 to 14% to total agricultural GDP in 1998 - 99 at current prices (Khan and Roy 2003).

It is estimated that there are about 140 million chickens and 13 million ducks in the total poultry population (DLS 2000).


Poultry production in Bangladesh is dominated by indigenous chickens. Indigenous chickens constitute nearly 80% of the total chicken population of the country (DLS 1998). About 89% of the rural livestock-holders rear chickens and the average number per household is 6.8. Very little is known however about the indigenous chicken flocks their genetic makeup management bird performance disease resistance and adaptation to local conditions. Therefore the aim of this study is to summarize the current status of the indigenous chicken genetic resources of Bangladesh and thereafter to suggest how they could be improved under the existing village conditions of the country.

Location and Temperature

Bangladesh is located between 20.75°N and 25.75°N in latitude and between 88.30°E and 92.75°E in longitude. The mean annual temperature is about 26°C (Figure 1). Mean monthly temperature ranges between about 18°C in January and 30°C in April-May. Extreme temperatures range between about 4°C and 43°C except on the coast. Ground frost is occasionally experienced in exposed parts of the hill areas but not on the plains.

Breeds/Types of Chicken

The indigenous chicken population is composed of a number of breeds/types such as non-descript Deshi Aseel Naked Neck and Hilly. Some dwarf chickens and Red Jungle Fowls can also be seen in the country. The non-descript Deshi chicken is more acceptable to rural people as an important source of meat and eggs (Barua and Howlider 1990) due to lower nutritional demand and higher resistance to diseases and heat stress. These rural Deshi chickens provide about 78% of poultry meat and 75% of eggs for domestic consumption. But these potential genetic resources are undergoing genetic erosion due to continuous introduction of exotic stock from developed country and their indiscriminate crossing with the indigenous chickens. No attempts have been made to improve and conserve these valued genetic resources.

Production and Management System

Chicken rearing is popular in the villages as a means of deriving food and extra income. Chicken rearing is culturally acceptable and technically and economically viable. Moreover the ownership of chickens is entirely in the hands of women. The common production method in the villages is backyard scavenging. The village chicken is a low producer because of poor genetic makeup and inadequate nutrition and management. In spite of this backyard chicken farming is a highly cost-effective enterprise because the inputs required to sustain the system are small. No cost is incurred by the farmers stocks and feeds are internally generated and health care is expected to be provided free by the government. Indigenous chickens have the advantage of being well adapted to the local environmental conditions (hot humid dry and rainy weather). Indigenous chickens are scavengers by nature and a system of supplementary feeding is not practical. The birds scavenge for their own feed from morning to evening around houses and fields. They depend on field grains insects earthworms green matters crop residues homestead pickings and kitchen wastes. No commercial diets are given to them. The eggs are naturally incubated under broody hens.

Distribution Housing and Diseases

The Deshi chickens and Naked Neck chickens are distributed throughout the country except in some hilly areas of the country. The Aseel indigenous game birds are found in Sarail Thana in the Brahmanbaria district and in the Chittagong region. Hilly birds are seen in hilly areas of the Chittagong region of the country.

Ninety nine per cent farmers keep their chickens in earthen houses. Out of 99% about 22% keep their chickens inside the owner’s bed room. In most of the mud houses space and ventilation system are not adequate. Inside the houses some bedding materials (litter) such as ash and sand are used. These materials are easily available to the farmers and cost nothing. The owner does not or cannot clean the houses every day but about once in 15 days cleaning takes place and is normally done by women. The chickens sometime lay eggs outside the chicken houses e.g. in store room or similar quiet places.

In the scavenging village chicken production system disease is the main constraint. The common diseases are Newcastle disease coccidiosis fowl cholera and fowl pox. Government vaccination programmes often do not reach the rural villages mainly due to insufficient veterinary extension services and shortage of vaccines.

Morphological Characteristics

In Bangladesh non-descript Deshi (Figure 2a and 2b) Naked Neck (Figure 3) Aseel (Figure 4) Hilly (Figure 5a and 5b) and Red Jungle Fowls (Figure 6) chickens comprise the indigenous chicken population. They show high levels of morphological and phenotypic variability and increased fitness under natural settings. Studies reveal that they may be regarded as one breed or population because of the small genetic distances among them (Okada et al. 1987). The Aseel is divided into two types Sarail and Chittagong. The morphological descriptions of indigenous chickens of Bangladesh are shown in Table 1 and 2.

Genetic Characterization

The volume of work pertaining to the genetic constitution of the indigenous chickens of Bangladesh is very thin. In the 1980s collaboration between Japan and Bangladesh Agricultural University attempted to clarify the gene constitution at the morphological and blood group loci of the Deshi chicken in Bangladesh (Okada et al. 1988 Zaman et al., 1991). Genetic distance was estimated from gene frequencies at 4 blood groups and plasma polymorphic proteins (the AKP AKP-2 ES-1 Amy-1 Amy-3 Alb Pas and Tf loci). The gene frequencies at morphological loci were also used to compare chickens of different districts (geographical areas of the country). The morphological characteristics observed were: a) comb shape; b) ear lobe colour; c) feather colour; and d) shank colour. Concerning the gene frequency at each locus some variations were observed among the districts. Good variation in the frequencies of the E and I alleles controlling feather colour was noticed. The genetic distances among indigenous Deshi populations were very small but the distance between the Deshi and Aseel was relatively large which almost corresponded to the differences between the breeds. These studies further revealed that no systematic selection had been carried out on those morphological characteristics of the indigenous chickens of Bangladesh.


Performance of Indigenous Chicken

Table 3 shows the performance of the Deshi chickens of Bangladesh summarized from various published scientific papers and research reports.
Among the indigenous population
egg production is higher in Naked Neck chicken. The annual egg production per hen was 50-55 in Naked Neck and was 45-50 in Deshi chickens under scavenging conditions. But the Aseel produced only 33 eggs per year under an intensive management system. In general the eggs of indigenous chicken are much smaller than those of exotic breeds/strains. Egg weight varied from 35-39 g in Deshi to 42 g in Naked Neck chickens. Deshi chickens attain puberty early relative to other indigenous types. The highest age at sexual maturity was 240-300 days in Aseel birds followed by 234 and 175 days respectively in Naked Neck and Deshi chickens. The mature body weight of Deshi and Naked Neck chickens was very similar and it varied from 1.0 to 1.3 kg. But the Aseel bird was heavier than other indigenous chickens. The feed conversion efficiency for per kilo body weight and per kilo egg mass production was 4.5 and 8.6 - 8.8 respectively in Deshi chickens. However data for feed efficiency in Naked Neck and Aseel chickens is not available.



Indigenous chickens are more resistant to prevalent diseases under a free range system. The mortality rate of Deshi birds was 9.0% up to the age of 500 days. But the mortality rate was slightly lower in the Naked Neck chicken. The hatchability of all eggs varied from 75% to 87%. This wide rage of hatchability may be due to differences in incubation systems and other environmental factors.

Breeding Programme

Breeding efforts were undertaken to improve the chicken genetic resource of Bangladesh mainly through an upgrading and/or crossbreeding programme. The main vision of all efforts was to establish a suitable type of chicken adaptable to the environmental conditions of Bangladesh. Hoque et al. (1975) in the early 1970s crossed indigenous Deshi chickens with White Leghorn New Hampshire and White Cornish birds and found that the Deshi chicken can be improved in a sustainable way by upgrading with exotic breeds and that the New Hampshire upgrade was most economic for egg production under farm conditions (intensive system).

A Backyard Poultry Development Project was in operation during 1970s (Ahmed and Islam 1985) with the intention of upgrading the Deshi chicken through the production and distribution of breeding cocks and pullets in the rural project villages. This programme was initiated by the Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) through the financial assistance of UNICEF in 100 villages. During the project’s life firstly the indigenous Deshi birds were vaccinated farmers motivated to dispose of their Deshi cocks and to rear crossbred chicken. This programme was also supplemented with feeds farmer cooperative formation (Backyard Poultry Raisers Society BPR) regular vaccinations training and marketing channel development. The society members disposed of all their indigenous cocks from the project area. The germplasm introduced was Rhode Island Red (RIR) or White Leghorn (WLH) x RIR or Australorp cocks of 18-20 weeks of age. The aim was to maintain rigidly a 50% exotic and 50% indigenous blood level under village conditions. A total of 5264 cocks 3500 pullets 1500 growing chicks and 74,100 hatching eggs were distributed among the BPRs of the project area. Implementation of said programme in the villages resulted in a significant increase in average egg production per hen per year an increase in average annual egg consumption per person and a lowering of bird mortality (growing and adult) during the project’s life. However it was noticed that after withdrawal of project activity the crossbred birds failed to be sustained in the villages.

Following the BAU Backyard Poultry Development Project the government of Bangladesh took up the Cockerel Exchange Programme in the country for the development of indigenous village chickens. Improved exotic breeds (WLH RIR Fayoumi) were mainly being used for the improvement of local chickens via a crossbreeding programme through the distribution of egg chick and pullets and cockerel exchange activities. In support of this up until the 1990s the Government Central Poultry Farm and its multiplication units maintained exotic pure breeds (WLH RIR New Hampshire Plymouth Rock) and hatched day old pure-bred chicks these being sold to interested farmers and private smallholder entrepreneurs to encourage them to take up commercial chicken farming. However again no positive growth could be shown using exotic pure-breds in village conditions mainly because of problems arising of adaptability high mortality and significant genotype-environment interaction.

Experiments at the Government Central Poultry Farm Dhaka during the period from 1987 to 1989 encompassed 22 genetic groups of which 5 were pure-breds (Australorp Barred Plymouth Rock White Leghorn Rhode Island Red Fayoumi and indigenous Deshi) and the remainder were crossbreds (F1) made up of the aforementioned pure breeds (Ambar et al. 1999). These studies inferred that Fayoumi may best be used for crossbreeding with WLH or RIR (Fayoumi x WLH - called Rupali and RIR x Fayoumi called Sonali). Further the resultant layers would be suitable for those farmers who wished to farm on small scale eggeries in semi-intensive conditions in Bangladesh. With the Government Central Poultry Farm producing Sonali/Rupali commercial chicken production in semi-intensive conditions in Bangladesh continued until the mid 1990s.

Another trial was commenced in 1993 (Rahman et al. 1996) where different exotic hens were tested in semi-scavenging conditions. One of the breed combinations was a cross between a commercial hybrid as the female line and an improved breed (Fayoumi RIR or WLH) as the male line. Another breed combination was Sonali. The hypothesis was that the use of commercial hybrids as parent hens would satisfy the multiplication links with respect to high egg production while using another breed as males would satisfy the end users with respect to good scavenging and survival traits. Their study inferred that for the government semi-scavenging smallholder model of chicken production the breeding strategy should be based on the production of Sonali birds.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/a0070t/a0070t0c.htm

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[unpathedhaunt]

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Workers under observation for suspected H5N1
Published: Wednesday, 28 March, 2007, 09:00 AM Doha Time
DHAKA: Bangladesh said yesterday it is closely monitoring about 100 workers from farms where the H5N1 bird flu virus has been confirmed in poultry.
About 50,000 chickens have been culled since the outbreak of avian flu was confirmed in nine farms near the capital Dhaka and northern Jamalpur district last week.
No humans have tested positive for the disease in Bangladesh but officials are monitoring the workers just to be sure.
"We have been closely watching some 100 farm workers for suspected infection and if necessary their blood and other samples will be sent for tests," Mahmudur Rahman, a director of the government health directorate, said.
Blood and other samples of 10 other workers from the affected poultry farms also showed they were not infected with bird flu.
The samples were tested at the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research in Dhaka.
Rahman said Bangladesh was adequately equipped to combat human cases of H5N1 influenza.
"We have 133,000 doses of Oseflu, an effective local version of Tamiflu, to combat human-infection by bird flu," Rahman said.
"These are sufficient, because cases of human infection were very low in the countries where bird flu had been reported so far."
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says 169 people have died of bird flu in 11 countries since 2003 and there are fears the virus could mutate and pass easily among humans, causing a pandemic. For the moment, H5N1 is hard for humans to catch and is essentially a bird disease.
Bangladesh's leading drug firm, Beximco Pharmaceuticals, started marketing Oseflu early last year.
WHO officials in Dhaka said they had 5,000 Tamiflu doses reserved for a rapid-response team fighting bird flu in Bangladesh. The team comprises Bangladeshi and WHO officials.
Meanwhile, thousands more chickens have been slaughtered in Bangladesh after the country confirmed its first outbreak of bird flu last week, officials said yesterday.
Nearly 4,000 chickens were killed at farms in the northern Jamalpur district on Monday.
"We culled 3,777 chickens on two farms in Jamalpur district," a livestock ministry official, who asked not to be named, said.
"We also have reports that chickens in (central) Narayanganj district have been affected and we will take the necessary action there," he added.
Bird flu was first confirmed in Bangladesh last Thursday after samples from one farm near the capital tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus. Some 40,000 birds at six farms were slaughtered there.
The H5N1 virus has killed at least 169 people since late 2003, most of them in Asia, according to the World Health Organisation.
Bangladesh is home to hundreds of thousands of poultry farms which employ more than a million people.
Bangladesh has 125,000 small and large poultry firms producing 250mn broilers and 6bn eggs annually, with annual turnover of $750mn. ? Agencies
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topi...=140496&version=1&template_id=44&parent_id=24



Gulf Times Newspaper, 2007

 

[Treyfish]

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

WHO support in preventing spread of bird flu assured World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Dhaka assured the government Wednesday of all-out support to its efforts in preventing the spread of bird flu.
The assurance from WHO representative Duangvadee Sungkhobol came when she met with the adviser of fisheries and livestock ministry, CS Karim, at his secretariat office Wednesday.
Khalilur Rahman Siddiqui, a joint secretary of the ministry, told the FE that the WHO official had expressed her satisfaction over the measures taken against attack of bird flu.
Siddiqui said the WHO Dhaka chief also assured the adviser to provide assistance for laboratory test of the bird flu virus.
While briefing the newsmen Siddiqui said 3,546,704 poultry birds at a total of 2053 farms were inspected on March 27 across the country.
Of them, so far 11 poultry farms have been found infected by the Avian virus, he said adding that four virus-infected farms were found in Savar, three in Gazipur, two in Jamalpur and two in Narayanganj.
On March 27, the inspection teams culled 1,942 poultry birds across the country, he said.


the Financial Express

 

[Treyfish]

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

No bird flu in 21 districts in Khulna zone, claims BPIA
Our Correspondent, Khulna

Leaders of Khulna divisional unit of Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association in a press conference at Khulna Pres Club on Wednesday 11:30 am claimed that there was no bird flu in 21 districts of Khulna zone.
There is no reason of being terrified about bird-flue in the zone as no bird-flu contamination is detected here in past and the poultry meat and eggs here are safe and free from any danger, said a written speech read by the Khulna divisional coordinator of BPIA, SM Sohorab Hossain.
The meat and eggs are cooked in our country in such a temperature that bird-flue virus can not affect our body, the speech claimed, giving a call to the common people not to pay heed to rumours.
Answering to the newsmen, the association leaders said that the sale of poultry eggs and meets have declined and the price of them has also decreased during past few days.
The press meet was also attended by organization leaders- Dr Purnendu Gain, Dr Md Sayeduzzaman, SM Anisuzzaman Panna, Md Salahuddin, Syed Belal Hossain and Sheikh Ainul Haque, among others.

Create mass awareness about bird flu

Speakers at Comilla workshop

A workshop on "Bird flu and Its Prevention" was held in the district town hall yesterday.
The department of livestock and local administration jointly organized the workshop to create awareness about the outbreak of avian influenza among poultry farm owners.
Deputy Commissioner M Mohibul Hossain spoke on the occasion as chief guest with livestock official Dr. Sheikh Saidur Rahman was in the chair.
Livestock officials Dr. Aminur Rahman, Dr. Amir Hossain, M Abu Taher and poultry farm owner Abdul Malek Bhuiyan, among others, took part in the discussion.
The speakers said bird flu was not detected anywhere in the district so far. They urged all to exercise maximum cautious in this regard.


The Bangledesh Today.com

 

[Treyfish]

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Beware of bird flu
By Abir Abdullah
Thu, 29 Mar 2007, 11:51:00
The strain of bird flu deadly to humans was detected at a state-run poultry farm and the workers recently slaughtered about 50,000 chickens in some affected farms at Savar and Gazipur.The H5N1 strain of bird flu had been detected in birds only, not humans in Bangladesh. Bird Flu is caused by influenza A virus and domestic poultries are far more susceptible to these viruses. Most cases of avian influenza infection in humans are thought to have resulted from direct contact with infected poultry or contaminated surfaces. However the disease is not transferred from human to human.

Bangladesh Government has already taken measures to protect the poultry farms in the country. Culling of a very large number of affected fowls already been done. Medical teams led by livestock department are visiting the poultry farms and examining the fowls. About 3.5 million people are employed in the poultry sector in that adds a value worth some Taka 50 billion or $833 million to the country's GDP and thus the poultry farms have played a vital role on the economy. People are also advised to cook chickens and eggs above 70 degree Celsius to kill the virus.


nation.ittefag.com

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Bird Flu in Bandar, N'ganj

174 poultry farms sealed off

Star Report

The district livestock administration has sealed off all 174 chicken farms and placed restrictions on transport of poultry products at Bandar upazila of Narayanganj following detection of bird flu at four local farms.

Besides, it has been keeping the farms at the adjoining Sonargaon upazila under constant surveillance after abnormal death of fowls at Kadirganj village there.

Elsewhere in the country, no case of bird flu has been reported yesterday, our correspondents report.

Meanwhile, Fisheries and Livestock Adviser CS Karim yesterday called on the private TV channels and radio stations to help the government in its efforts to develop public awareness about the avian flu that poses a serious threat to the country's poultry industry. Some 4.5 lakh families have invested over Tk 6,000 crore in the business.

Though the situation is under control now, he said, the media should carry out a campaign educating people on the potential fallout from the deadly virus. Karim made the observations when a delegation of private TV channels met him at his office yesterday.

Our Narayanganj correspondent adds: Laboratory test reports have confirmed bird flu infection at the four farms at Bandar, said District Livestock Officer Abu Taher. Of the affected ones, two are at Sonakanda, one at Purbo Kalyandi and the other at Malivita.

Besides shutting in the 174 farms, the administration has been seeking to make aware locals about the disease by circulating information through loudspeakers. As part of the measures, 468 chickens were culled at Malivita village yesterday. The number of poultry farms in the district currently stands at 989.

Our Khulna correspondent reports: Samples from two suspected farms in Bagerhat could not be tested as those were decomposed before reaching Dhaka. Those samples were sent to the capital Tuesday following death of some 600 chickens.

The reports include all poultry farms of Khulna and Bagerhat district have been kept under surveillance by Rapid Response Team of Livestock Department. Necessary measures have been taken against spread of the bird flu, said Deputy Director of Khulna divisional livestock office Mohammed Abdul Hye. There are around 55,000 poultry farms in Khulna district.

Our Tangail correspondent reports: The district authorities have yet to take any step to cull the free-range chicken within the one-kilometre radius of two flu-affected farms in Bhuapur upazila.

Akhter Ali, deputy commissioner of the district, told The Daily Star that they have been keeping a close watch on all farms. They did not cull the free-range fowls, as they had no directions from the livestock department, he added.

A correspondent from Benapole adds: The livestock officials at Sharsha upazila burned 95 chickens that had been bought in from Gazipur. Earlier, they seized those from Monirul, a poultry trader.

The livestock officials sat with the local farm owners and asked them to take cautionary measures against spread of bird flu.

Our Gazipur correspondent reports that the Rapid Response Team yesterday examined around 1.40 lakh chickens at 129 farms but those did not show any symptoms suggesting avian flu.

http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/03/30/d7033001107.htm

 

[Treyfish]

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Rajshahi poultry market almost normal
Our Correspondent . Rajshahi
Detection of bird flu at Savar and some other places in the country put a very little impact on the poultry market in the Rajshahi city as there was no report of avian influenza in the district till Thursday.
There was, however, a rush among the farm owners to sell their birds as soon as possible despite preventive measures taken by the district livestock department office.
Traders at a number of markets in the city said as there was no report of bird flu cases in the district, sale of poultry birds was almost normal.
The prices of poultry fall slightly and it was selling at Tk 90 per kilogram on Thursday as against Tk 100 or more before the detection of bird flu. There was no effect on the egg price and it was selling at its earlier price.
The district veterinary officer of Rajshahi, Ataur Rahman, said the livestock department had taken preventive measures and programmes to create mass awareness.
The owners have also been asked to closely observe the chickens in their farms and remain in touch with the department, he said adding the border guards and other law enforcing agencies had also been requested to strengthen vigil so that no poultry birds can enter into the country through the borders.
More than 200 chickens of a farm at Sagarpara in the
city became sick last week and the samples were sent to Jaipurhat for laboratory test, but no evidence of bird flu was found, the veterinary officer said.
Mustagir Rahman, a poultry farm owner, said there were about 20,000 layer chickens at his farm and those were screened closely.
There are about 200 poultry farms in nine upazilas of the district — Puthia, Bagha, Bagmara, Godagari, Tanore, Charghat, Mohanpur, Paba and Matiher — and all the chickens in the farms were examined, but there was no report of avian influenza strain, he added.

newagebd.com

 

[Treyfish]

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Media urged to help combat bird flu



Adviser for Fisheries and Livestock, Environment and Forests and Agriculture Dr C S Karim today called upon both government and private media to play an active role in creating mass awareness to combat bird flu in the country, reports BSS.
He made the call while exchanging views with top executives of private electronic media at his office here. Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock Sayed Ataur Rahman, Information Secretary Didarul Anwar and Principal Information Officer Iftekhar Hossain were present.
The Adviser referred to over Taka 6,000 crore as investment in the poultry sector with 4.5 lakh families depending on it and said collective efforts are must to protect this principal source of protein.
“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,” he said.
Dr. Karim also informed the electronic media chiefs that no news of fresh affected area was received today. Still, he said, farmers are afraid of attack from the bird flu and consumers are hesitant about eating eggs and chickens.
He said 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,” he said.
The media representatives assured the Adviser of their spontaneous cooperation in this regard and said the private media played their due role in any disastrous situation in the past and would do so in future also.

newstoday-bd.com

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

Re: Bangladesh - H5N1 Spreading

(India) Bird flu alert along Indo-Bangla border
Pranesh Sarkar

KOLKATA, March 29: Eight Bangladesh bordering districts have been put on high alert by the state health department after deadly H5N1 virus or bird flu virus was detected in Bangladesh recently. Though no human case has been reported in the neighbouring country so far, the health department is apparently not ready to take any chances.

State health department officials told The Statesman that bird flu or avian influenza would continue to pose a risk to human health as long as it is circulating animals, as the disease has proven itself capable of crossing the species barrier. The larger problem, however, is if the avian influenza strain, produces a new strain that could spark a human influenza pandemic.

?As it was already reported in the neighbouring country like Bangladesh, we have to be alert. We have asked all our officials to keep a close watch on the hospitals. If any suspected patient is admitted in any anywhere, particularly in the bordering districts, the case has to be taken up with utmost sincerity,? said an officer.

?Its not a time to sit back and relax. As the disease has reached our neighbouring country, we have to take adequate precautionary measures,? said a highly placed official at the state health department.

According to the caution notice, the district authorities of Nadia, Malda, Murshidabad, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, South 24-Parganas, North 24-Parganas and Cooch Behar were asked to alert all hospitals to keep a vigil on patients especially those admitted with disease that could not be diagnosed immediately. In that case, the authorities concerned should be informed immediately. All required pathological tests have to be arranged as early as possible.

Dr SN Dutta, the state joint director (public health), said: ?We have initiated proper precautionary measures and sent protective gears to deal with the virus in all districts. So far, there is nothing to be worried about as no case was reported from the state.?

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=151388