BANGLADESH: Eighty-four poultry farms report deadly bird flu virus
Pastor Dale Morgan
BANGLADESH: Eighty-four poultry farms report deadly bird flu virus*
24 Jan 2008 14:31:23 GMT
Source: IRIN
DHAKA, 24 January 2008 (IRIN) - Avian influenza, or bird flu, continues
to spread in Bangladesh, with 26 of the country's 64 districts now
affected, health officials say.
On 23 January the Department of Livestock confirmed the presence of the
H5N1 virus in 84 poultry farms across the country.
To date, over 315,000 poultry birds have been culled at 109 farms, while
veterinarians are struggling to inspect many thousands more at farms
throughout the country.
No human cases have been reported thus far.
Bird flu created panic in the southern city of Barisal recently after an
outbreak of the disease was confirmed at two backyard farms within the
city - prompting the authorities to cordon off a one kilometre radius
around the two farms and culling close to 2,000 birds.
"No new outbreak has been reported since the cordoning off of the area
and culling of the birds. Sick birds were reported from some places, but
they were reported H5N1-negative," district livestock officer Mohammad
Jainuddin Mollah, said.
But fears of a possible spread of the infectious disease remain, with
workers who took part in the culling now being closely monitored.
"At the moment, we are giving medication to those workers who took part
in the culling operation, Mollah said, citing an acute lack of resources.
"There are 1,212 commercial farms in the district and we don't have
enough personal safety gear for the 110 field staff in the district who
directly handle sick birds," he complained, adding: "Affected birds need
to be handled with the utmost care."
Any case of human infection by the H5N1 virus would increase the chances
of the virus's mutation. This, in turn, might pose a great threat to
human beings, the official said.
Lack of awareness
For Mollah, well aware of the challenges ahead, it was the lack of
public awareness amongst local communities that was particularly worrying.
"We advise people to separate sick birds from healthy ones; to dispose
of poultry faeces in covered pits; to kill and bury sick birds," he
said. "We also tell them to wash eggs with detergent, and to cook eggs
and meat well, before consuming them."
Proper hand-washing is a major deterrent against the virus, Mollah
added, citing efforts by various international non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) like BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee)
and Save the Children in raising awareness levels.
But despite these efforts, including seminars and meetings with rural
communities over the obvious risk factors, levels of awareness remained
"very low", he conceded.
In the village of Naya Para in Kahalu sub-district of Bogra District in
northern Bangladesh, Mahfuza Begum lost all 62 of her chickens over the
past three weeks, but does not know what killed them.
"I did not inform anyone about the disease. No one had told me to do
so," the 42-year-old replied. "Some of the hens died while hatching
their eggs. They died just sitting on their eggs," she sobbed.
Outbreak in West Bengal
Meanwhile, news of a significant outbreak of the virus in West Bengal
across the border in India is raising concerns among poultry farmers,
especially as 17 of Bangladesh's 26 affected districts border on the
Indian state.
Bangladesh, home to more than 150 million inhabitants, shares a 4,000km
border with India, much of it with West Bengal, where the smuggling of
poultry and eggs into protein-hungry Bangladesh is reportedly rampant.
"We get cheap chicken and eggs from West Bengal. No one can seal off the
border. We are in great danger," Haji Hashim Ali, a poultry wholesaler
at Dhaka's Karwan Bazar, warned.
However, a spokesman for the Bangladesh Rifles, a paramilitary force
charged with guarding the nation's borders, said strict restrictions on
the cross border movement of poultry and eggs were in place and were now
being vigorously enforced.
India's West Bengal state is currently struggling to cope with its own
bird flu outbreak - described as the third and worst outbreak to strike
India since 2006. Eleven of West Bengal's 19 districts have now been
affected, resulting in over 50,000 birds being culled.
The West Bengal government announced on 22 January it would begin
culling two million birds this week.
Adding to people's fears, hawks and other migratory birds have
reportedly dropped dead out of the sky, local media sources report.
On 17 January, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement
that India had bigger trouble on its hands than earlier believed -
hinting that the virus outbreak could perhaps be one of the worst ever -
and more severe than previously encountered.
According to the WHO, bird flu has killed over 200 people in 12
countries since 2003, the vast majority in Asia.