# 1706
UPDATED 0830 Hrs EDT Feb 24th
Better make that 45 districts . . . .
Bangladesh bird flu hits two more districts
DHAKA (AFP) - Two more districts in central Bangladesh have been hit by bird flu, the government said Sunday, as the nation nears its third month of trying to control an outbreak of the virus among poultry.
The deadly H5N1 strain was reported in central Munshiganj and Chandpur districts in the past two days, taking the number of affected districts to 45 since January, an official with the government's bird flu monitoring office said.
Although its been several days since we've had an update out of Bangladesh, the virus continues to spread, apparently undeterred by massive culling. Of the 64 districts of Bangladesh, 45 are now reporting H5N1 infection.
While the potential for human infections persists, the economic costs have already proved devastating to this impoverished country.
A major food source, chicken and eggs, has been removed from many people's table, and one of the largest industries of that nation (poultry producing) has sustained a tremendous body blow.
The bird flu virus appears to have become well entrenched in Bangladesh, and as we've seen in other nations, once there - it is exceedingly difficult to get rid of.
Feb 24, 2008
Bird flu strikes another Bangladesh district
DHAKA - BIRD flu has spread to another district in Bangladesh despite massive culling by authorities to fight the deadly outbreak, officials said, bringing the number of affected districts to 44 out of the country's 64.
The latest outbreak of H5N1 avian flu was detected in Munshiganj, 60 km from Dhaka, while the virus re-emerged in several other districts, livestock officials said on Sunday.
Nearly 911,000 birds have been culled to fight the virus since March 2007, but it continues to spread and now covers more than two-thirds of the impoverished country of more than 140 million people.
Bird flu has caused losses of about 45 billion taka (S$913.7 million) to the poultry sector, which generates more than $1.8 billion annually, industry officials said.
'Nearly 90,000, or 60 per cent of total poultry farms in the country, have been so far shut down due to the direct or indirect effect of bird flu, leaving around 150,000 people out of jobs,' said Mr Syed Abu Siddeque, Secretary General of Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association.
