# 1531
Bangladesh, with a population of just under 160 million, is the 7th most populous country in the world. It is also one of the poorest.
Since March of last year, bird flu in Bangladesh has been in the news practically on a weekly basis. In recent weeks the stories, and rumors, have increased.
Today the FAO (UN's Food and Agriculture Organization) released a statement warning that the situation in Bangladesh is worsening.
This story from The Straits Times.
Jan 24, 2008
Bangladesh bird flu worsening: UN
DHAKA - BANGLADESH needs house-to-house surveillance to fight bird flu because the situation has worsened, the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Thursday.
The UN FAO statement came as neighbouring India battled its worst-ever outbreak of bird flu - believed to have spread from Bangladesh, which has been reporting sporadic outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 strain since early 2007.
'The situation has worsened in the past week compared to the first few months of the outbreak. The international community is very concerned,' FAO's Bangladesh chief Ad Spijkers told AFP here in Dhaka.
'We took the concern to the minister Wednesday and donors are going to meet with the government very soon to discuss comprehensive measures to fight the disease. It's posing a danger to public health,' he said.
Mr Spijkers' statement came amid a rise in outbreaks in the country's southern, central and northern districts. The government said more than 20,000 birds were slaughtered in the past week.
On Thursday, Bangladesh border security forces were put on high alert to stop transport of poultry from India's West Bengal state, where authorities are struggling to control a massive outbreak of deadly bird flu.
Indian authorities believe the avian flu may have spread from Bangladesh, which reported its first outbreak in February 2007.
Since then the disease has been detected in 26 out of Bangladesh's 64 districts, prompting authorities to slaughter at least 355,000 birds.
Officials admit the situation has worsened in the past week but insist the disease remains contained in the impoverished country of 144 million people.
'We don't think the situation is as bad as in West Bengal,' a director of livestock department Salahuddin Khan said on Wednesday.
Experts differed, saying the situation is far worse than the government claims while farmers were also holding back from reporting many cases. -- AFP
