Bangladesh on high alert after rise in bird flu
04 th February 2008
Bird flu has gripped more than half of the 64 districts of Bangladesh in less than a year. This has threatened the livelihood of millions of people, who are dependent on the poultry industry. This also results in high food prices.
According to health experts, the government's neglect and lack of timely action is mainly responsible for spread of the bird flu virus in Bangladesh and the neighbouring Indian state of West Bengal . Experts say that ignorance among people about bird flu is another cause of worry.
A health official in Barisal district, which is on the coast, said, “Many villagers still hold their dead chickens with bare hands and throw them away without burying them. That helps spread the disease.”
Government is making efforts to spread awareness among people. According to Abdur Rashid, who is a surgeon in the flu-hit coastal district Bhola, authorities had been distributing leaflets about bird flu but many villagers had ignored the warnings.
Some farmers indulged in selling sick chickens because the compensation paid by authorities was very low. One poultry owner said, “They can sell a chicken for 130 to 150 taka ($1.90 to $2.20), while they get around 80 taka in compensation that often takes a long time to get.”
Causes of bird flu infection
Strains of H5N1 virus have killed more than 220 people worldwide since its first outbreak in 2003. Touching or eating sick poultry is the most common way of being infected by the H5N1 bird flu virus.
Bangladesh has not reported any human death so far due to bird flu infection (influenza). Since it is a densely populated nation with millions of backyard poultry and thousands of chicken farms, the risks are high.
Salehuddin Khan, who is a director of the government's livestock directorate, said “The government has taken aggressive measures to stop the spread of the disease and the situation is still under control.”
However, the virus has spread in nearly 100 poultry farms in 30 districts of Bangladesh . Since March last year, more than 350,000 chickens and ducks have been culled.
According to livestock officials, bird flu was still spreading and had resurfaced in the Feni district, which is in southeast of Dhaka . The government has ordered culling of all chickens and ducks in a one kilometre radius surrounding all affected farms.
The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation observed last month that measures taken are inadequate. It said, the virus “appeared to be endemic in the country, and surveillance and control campaigns have so far not succeeded in interrupting virus transmission between provinces.”
People in Bangladesh are facing a critical situation, as food prices are soaring high due to bird flu.
Shahedul Alam, who is a government employee, said, “Now we are facing a critical situation, as bird flu struck at a time when commodity prices from rice, flour to milk powder and edible oil had already nearly doubled.”
A virologist, who did not want to reveal his identity, said, “Sometimes we are neglecting people to save the poultry industry. We have to choose priority. There is no other option but to destroy chickens.” | 
