- "A fresh influx of migratory birds is raising further
concerns. Hundreds of thousands of Siberian water fowl arrive in Bangladesh
from mid-November, taking refuge in the country's vast rivers, lakes and
marshlands."
-
- Hello, Jeff - You bet a fresh influx of migratory birds
is 'raising further concerns.' There has been too much evidence to support
the theory that migratory birds spread bird flu.
-
-
- Bangladesh - Return Of Bird Flu
- IRIN News
- 11-19-7
-
- Avian flu has re-emerged in Bangladesh after 4 months,
with 5 reported new outbreaks in poultry farms across the country since
October [2007]. The contagious viral disease was 1st detected in Bangladesh
in March 2007. Since then there have been 55 outbreaks in 19 of the country's
64 districts.
-
- To halt a further spread of the virus, more than 250
000 chickens have been culled since the original outbreak.
-
- "But indirect losses to farmers far surpass the
direct loss," veterinarian Abul Kalam Azad of the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) told IRIN in Dhaka, the capital.
-
- Many farms have downsized operations, resulting in significant
layoffs and the suspension of business, while producers of poultry feed
and farm equipment have also been hard hit.
-
- "The whole USD 2 billion industry is in a very nervous
state," Azad explained.
-
- A fresh influx of migratory birds is raising further
concerns. Hundreds of thousands of Siberian water fowl arrive in Bangladesh
from mid-November, taking refuge in the country's vast rivers, lakes and
marshlands.
-
- "The winter months are likely to see more outbreaks,"
ASM Alamgir, a virologist at the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control
and Research, warned.
-
- And though a permanent relationship between migratory
birds and bird flu has yet to be proven beyond a doubt, according to the
World Health Organization (WHO), "scientists are increasingly convinced
that some migratory waterfowl are now carrying the H5N1 virus in its highly
pathogenic form, sometimes over long distances, and introducing the virus
to poultry flocks in areas that lie along their migratory routes"
-- all of which worries health officials in Bangladesh.
-
- "At 795 persons per square km, Bangladesh has the
highest population density in the world. This close proximity of human
beings is a risk element for transmission of any contagious disease like
flu," Nazrul Haq, a member of the government's technical working group
on avian influenza risk, said, adding that the hot and humid environment
helps pathogens spread quickly.
-
- Further compounding the problem is the prominent role
of poultry farming. Almost all rural households keep chickens as a source
of cheap protein, with about 2.4 million rural women depending on backyard
chicken farming as their only source of livelihood. Even well-off families
in Bangladesh raise a few chickens to supplement their income.
-
- As a result, communicating appropriate bio-security practices
such as separating domestic flocks from wild ones, hygienic slaughtering
and waste disposal, use of masks while cleaning chicken coops, disinfection
before and after working in poultry farms, as well as the use of personal
protective equipment is already proving difficult.
-
- "Behaviours don't change overnight," Habibur
Rahman of the Bangladesh Agricultural University told IRIN. "Most
of these farms do not maintain necessary sanitary and preventive measures
essential for keeping chicken safe from infection," he added, estimating
that there were well over 100 000 small and medium-sized farms in the country.
-
- In July [2007], the Bangladesh government signed an agreement
worth USD 16 million with the International Development Association, the
World Bank's concessionary arm, to minimise a possible bird flu threat.
-
- The Avian Influenza Preparedness and Response Project
supports the government's National Avian Influenza and Pandemic Influenza
Preparedness and Response Plan and is designed to control infections in
domestic poultry, while at the same time formulating plans to control and
respond to possible human infections, especially an influenza epidemic
and related emergencies.
-
- Meanwhile, officials in Bangladesh have also taken measures,
including a ban on the import of poultry-related products from affected
countries, monitoring of imported day-old chicks from non-affected countries,
the control of illegal poultry product trading, an improvement of laboratory
facilities, as well as forming a national task force representing relevant
stakeholders -- including the private sector.
-
- The government has imposed a 1km [0.62-mile] restricted
area around any confirmed infection point and all poultry within the area
is culled, while strict controls are imposed on the movement of poultry
and poultry products within a 10km [6.2-mile] radius.
-
- According to Abdul Motaleb, director of the government's
department of livestock, the proper disposal of dead birds and contaminated
materials such as eggs and faeces is also now ensured, while surveillance
and monitoring have been strengthened.
-
- "We have trained 320 000 community volunteers on
bird flu prevention. They are going from door-to-door in rural Bangladesh
to communicate and train women on safe and sanitary practices that can
prevent bird flu," Motaleb added.
-
- According to WHO, as of 12 Nov 2007, 335 humans have
been infected with the virus globally, of whom 206 died. That means 61
out of every 100 human cases are fatal. Of the 12 countries where bird
to human transmission took place, 9 are in Asia.
-
- There have been no cases of human infection in Bangladesh.
-
- http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75318
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-
- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD
- Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics
- Univ of West Indies
-
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php
- Also my new website:
- http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
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