Sunday, April 08, 2007

Bangladesh: Bird Flu in Poultry Continues to Spread

 

# 642

 

 

 

Bangladesh says bird flu spreads to new farm

Sun 8 Apr 2007 12:58:50 BST

DHAKA, April 8 (Reuters) - Bangladesh has culled 3,000 chickens after an outbreak of bird flu was confirmed at a new farm near the capital Dhaka, officials said on Sunday.

 


"The new farm is located at Savar, where the H5N1 virus was first detected in six farms on March 22," a Fisheries and Livestock Ministry official said.

 

He said hundreds of veterinary and health officials had been mobilised and the movement of chickens had been banned outside a 10 sq km (3.9 sq miles) area around the affected farms to check the spread of the avian flu.

 

Some 75,000 chickens have been culled so far from 27 farms since the outbreak was confirmed last month.

 

More than 500 workers at the infected farms have been given a local version of the Tamiflu anti-viral drug as a precaution, Health Ministry officials said.

 

No humans have tested positive for the disease in the densely populated country.

 

Bangladesh says it has sufficient Oseflu, a local version of Tamiflu, produced and marketed by a local firm since last year.