# 620
Despite culling efforts, the spread of bird flu in poultry continues in Bangladesh. Today's report also tells us that 400 cullers have been given prophylactic Tamiflu as a precautionary measure.
Bangladesh says bird flu spreads to more farms
(Reuters)
2 April 2007DHAKA - Bird flu spread to five more farms in Bangladesh over the weekend, the health ministry said on Monday, despite culling of thousands of chickens to control the outbreak.
The H5N1 virus was found in poultry in farms near Dhaka, where it was first detected, and in the north, taking the total number of affected farms to 21 in six districts.
Authorities have culled about 62,000 birds since confirming the outbreak in six farms on March 22.
Nearly 400 workers at the infected farms have been given a local version of the Tamiflu drug as a precaution, a health ministry official said.
No humans have tested positive for the disease in the country.
News reports of outbreaks in poultry in countries like Bangladesh, Kuwait, and Japan are still `news' because, relatively speaking, these are either rare, or recent developments.
We rarely see news about outbreaks in countries like Indonesia simply because they are so common, and have been ongoing for so long, as not to be newsworthy.
As counterintuitive as it may sound, the fact that outbreaks in Bangladesh are still newsworthy is a bit comforting. When bird die offs and culling operations become an every day occurrence, and not worthy of coverage, that's when I fear the battle has been lost.
