probe of mystery Bangladesh deaths

This from  20th Dec 2006     A little more on birds from Bang.

Migratory birds arrive from the frozen Himalayas, Central Asia, North Asia, East Europe and the Far East between mid-September and early November. They fly away between early March and late April.

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=ADBS,ADBS:2006-36,ADBS:en&q=north+west+bangladesh

The Thakurgaon District Cluster  ( NOT CONFIRMED AS AI YET )

Last count    3 dead , 2 suspects  .

Interestingly this place is only about 36 miles from the Nepal border ,
a place of many mystery deaths in recent months.

At this time of year the temperature is down around  5 to 10 deg C .
And is frequently hit by freezing winds from the Himalayas ( nepal ? )

Judging be the article below , the medical infrastructure is not in great
shape to handle this situation .

THAKURGAON, Feb 14: Pirganj Upazila Health Complex the only health care centre in the upazila is beset with manifold problems sources said.
Treatment of the patients is being seriously hampered due to shortage of doctors, nurses, medicines and other necessary equipments. The government made an announcement to upgrade the health complex to a 50-bed hospital 11 year ago. Steps are yet to be taken to turn the as per announcement.
On the contrary, the sources said, six out of nine posts of doctors has been lying vacant in the hospital for quite a long time. It has now become impossible for there doctors to provide medical services fore three doctors to provide medical services for three lakh people of ten unions of the upazila. As a result, patients are to wait hours together in long queue to meet the attending doctors. Shortage of manpower particularly cleaners and sweepers has made it difficult to keep the health complex clean. Dirty bathrooms and latrines over flowing with filth waste pose health hazard.
Patients alleged that the diets supplied to them are not up to the standard. They blame corrupt practices for below standard food supply in the health complex.

And here is another article that does not have much nice to say about
the area .

THAKURGAON, Feb 14: People in Pirganj Pourashava area are deprived of minimum civic amenities. The deplorable condition of roads, absence of proper drainage system frequent power failure, mushroom growth of roadside unauthorised shops and inadequate road lights are causing a lot of inconveniences to the town dwellers.
Established in 1989 total population was about 35,000 only at the initial period but the number has increased to 18,500 now. Many roads of the town become unfit for use during the rainy season due to lack of proper drainage system.
A good number of potholes and creaks have developed on most of the roads of the town. Station Road Palighaw Road, Mitrobati Pukorpar Road, Munshipara Road, Vakura Road, All Pukor Eidgah Road, Vemtia Road and Girls School Road are in deplorable condition. The roadside ditches and garbage are not cleaned regularly and these have become the ideal breeding centres of mosquitoes. The drains filled up with garbage’s overflow causing health hazard to the pedestrians. There are no public toilets or urinals in the town and people respond to the call of nature in the roadside drains polluting the environment. Due to lack of supervision the unhygienic hotels and restaurants in the town cause health hazard.
Adulterated foodstuff are openly sold in open places of the town. Many of the tube wells of the town have been lying inoperative for long causing paucity of drinking water. There are no recreational facilities for the town dwellers especially the youths who cannot spend their spare time in gossiping at different tea stalls or the road corners.
Most of the roads and residential areas of the town plunge into the darkness just after the sunset due to inadequate road light. Pourashava Chairman M Kosirul Alam (Kosir) said it is not possible for him to solve this problem due to shortage of government fund.

Thanks Candles , but I think I will wait a few weeks before I
cross it off my worry list .

Thanks Candles ,

The Goggle Earth Satellite photo's are remarkably clear for this area of
the globe. 

I say that because they appear to show a lot of small  dams  or pools
used for fish farming .

One wonders if the fish farming may have attracted more birds to the
area.


Extract from one of your posts below .

    Bangladesh at risk of bird flu attack"
Malaysia Sun
Saturday 17th February, 2007
ANI



By Nazrul Islam

Dhaka, Feb 17 - Bangladesh's health adviser to the interim government on Saturday said that the country's people were at the risk of being affected by avian influenza, as the flu has spread in most of the neighbouring countries.

"Neighbouring countries have already experienced the avian influenza outbreaks. Bangladesh is still free of the curse of the disease," the health and family welfare adviser, Dr. ASM Matiur Rahman, told inaugural session of a two-day advocacy meeting of the health officials on 'avian or human pandemic influenza' in Dhaka.

Indicating two neighbours -India and Myanmar - that have already reported the outbreak of the virus, the adviser said Bangladesh was not out of danger because of its geographical location.

"We are highly vulnerable to it," he added.

To resist spread of the flu, the health adviser asked the officials concerned to launch massive awareness campaign across Bangladesh .

He urged the media to come forward for creating mass awareness about the avian influenza and said the government has already undertaken a national plan of action for controlling it.

"We are going to form working units comprising the resources of three upazila (Sub District) health complexes in every district for providing better treatment at the grassroots in this regard.

The adviser also unveiled nine modules on the role of trainers dealing with avian or human pandemic influenza at the meeting.

"We've to build a mass awareness by ensuring proper application of these modules."

Unexplained deaths of three members of a family in past two weeks in northern Thankurgaon district have raised question whether the country was attacked by bird flu.

But investigation by a five-member expert committee dispelled the doubt saying that the deaths were not related to avian influenza.

Earlier, Bangladesh stopped imports of poultry products from a number of countries including the next-door neighbour India.

Bangladesh's poultry farming is on the rise with presently an annual turnover of 750 million dollars. More than two million workers are now engaged in poultry farming in the country.

Some 270 cases of humans being infected by the bird flu virus had been reported worldwide since 2003, according to available statistics.

 http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/bangladesh_pol96.jpg

Infected poultry being smuggled in from India .

So how sick do you have to be to get in to these  hospitals ?

Sounds as if  people with early stage AI maybe turned away because
they are not yet  sick enough .

Patients with cold related diseases crowd hospitals in Dhaka

Public and private hospitals in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka have been grappling with a huge rush of children suffering from pneumonia and bronchiolitis for the last couple of weeks, The Daily Star reported Thursday. Physicians at the hospitals said they are having trouble treating patients with respiratory tract infections, as the number this year is much higher than those in the last few years. They said that no official survey has yet been conducted though the cold-related diseases broke out around three weeks ago after a sudden change in weather. "Two-thirds of the total patients at our hospital are down with cold-related diseases," Dr NK Ghosh, a junior consultant at Institute of Child Health and Shishu Hospital, was quoted as saying. He said 400 patients a day on average take outdoor treatment at the private hospital. The children's wards at the public hospitals are already filled to capacity and doctors said they have no option but to refuse many sick children every day. A doctor of paediatrics at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital ( DMCH) admitted that they do not have enough time to enquire about the problems of a patient due mainly to the influx of the infants and young children. A doctor at the Dhaka Shishu Hospital said, "We are struggling to attend every patient." "When we release someone, the bed is filled up in no time," said a doctor of the hospital that can accommodate 481 child patients. He said that they give priority to those with worsening condition. The DMCH register shows that a doctor has to attend 80 patients on average during office hours since common cold and respiratory infections have invaded the child populace. Source: Xinhua

Bird flu Confirmed in Bangladesh

With a significant proportion of the population already desperately
poor and malnourished , bird flu is likely to be disaster for these people
even if it never becomes a pandemic ( that is in terms of food loss ).


Copied from the ******** website ( H. Niman Website )


Bangladesh confirmed Thursday its first case of bird flu, prompting mass culling of poultry at a farm outside the capital Dhaka, officials said.

Bangladesh is home to hundreds of thousands of poultry farms which employ more than a million people

The above comments confirm the detection of H5N1 in Bangladesh.  Because of Bengladesh’s proximity to India, detection of H5N1 is not a surprise.  Birds that migrate to Qinghai Lake in the spring winter in northern India.  Although H5N1 was acknowledged last year in western India, there have been no confirmed cases in the wild birds that migrate to Qinghai Lake.  This year media reports described the detection of bird flu in northeastern India, but those reports were not officially confirmed.

The presence of H5N1 in Bangladesh may provide of view of H5N1 in northeastern India.  The sequences reported last year in India were the Qinghai strain, although the HA was distinct from previously described Qinghai sequences, and the NA sequence was not Qinghai, indicating the H5N1 reported in India were reassortants, signally dual infections and significant levels of H5N1.

H5N1 in Bangladesh is also a cause for concern because it is the most densely populated country in the world and has a significant poultry population.

Bird flu detected in Savar poultry farm Council meeting told Unb, Dhaka Avian Influenza virus has been detected in a poultry farm at Savar on the outskirts of the capital, advisers told a special meeting of the council of advisers yesterday. According to an official handout, Adviser for Health and Family Welfare Major General (retd) ASM Matiur Rahman and Adviser for Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock CS Karim informed the meeting that "Avian Influenza virus has been detected in a poultry farm in Savar recently". Samples were sent on an urgent basis to Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute and also to the National Institute of Animal Health in Bangkok for confirmation. "The results showed the existence of influenza virus of the H5N1 variety," the meeting was further informed. However, poultry birds infected with H5N1 variety have not been detected anywhere else in the country other than Savar area. Chaired by Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, the meeting held at his office was apprised that the government has initiated a number of "preemptive and proactive actions to eliminate any possibility of its further proliferation to other places". The measures include: a) Destruction of poultry birds in the infected areas; b) Restricting the movement of poultry birds within 10-kilometre radius of the affected area; c) Preventive measures including chemo-profiling of those handling poultry birds; d) Doctors have already been trained to handle the situation; and e) Opening of control and monitoring cells in the health and fisheries and livestock ministries. "The government would like to assure that there is no reason for any panic or concern. In fact, poultry birds and eggs can be consumed as usual through normal cooking," says the official announcement, quoting experts.

.... forcing authorities to call in the army to carry out the slaughter

Chicken farmers protest bird flu cullFrom correspondents in Dhaka
March 24, 2007 09:59pm
Article from: Agence France-
WORKERS at a state-run poultry farm near the Bangladesh capital have protested at the culling of chickens infected by the H5N1 virus, forcing authorities to call in the army to carry out the slaughter.

The farm at Jirani Bazar, 30km north of Dhaka, is one of six where the avian flu was detected in the past few days, prompting authorities to order mass culling to stop the disease spreading across the densely populated nation.

But employees opposed the measure, saying their livelihood was at threat.

“We cannot let this burning to go ahead,” said Jannatul Ferdous.

“If the birds go, we will starve to death,” she said.

Other workers stood outside the gates of the small farm, chanting slogans: “go away, don't kill the birds”.

Farm offiical Mahbubur Rashid said troops were called later to complete the culling of birds.

Nearly 38,000 poultry birds have been culled in the six infected farms over the last few days after about 12,000 had died from the disease, officials from the livestock ministry said.

All poultry in farms and household within a square kilometre of the infected farms would be killed, the ministry said.

“The Government is very much determined to ensure that the deadly virus does not travel farther,” a Government official said.

The H5N1 avian flu virus has not spread to other areas of the country and there was no cause for panic, the Government has said.

Health experts had expected an outbreak of H5N1 because the country is surrounded by India and Myanmar, which have reported bird flu infections

Bangladesh's dense population and large numbers of backyard poultry also increased the risks of outbreaks, experts have said.

The Government has banned transport of poultry from affected areas, imposed constant monitoring of poultry farms across the country by joint forces led by the army and health checks on people working on the farms.

Additional reporting by Azad Majumder and Masud Karim
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21441261-38197,00.html

oops, my keyboard is dying, really I am literate

New outbreak in Naraynaganj   ?  which is south of Dhaka ( Dacca  ) .

Bangladesh is on fire .

Interestingly Narnaganj appears to be at the junction of 2 rivers and
2 railway lines ( from my reading of google earth photos ) .

Close surveillance ordered to
prevent spread of avian flu
Staff Correspondent

The government has asked local administrations and the livestock authorities to keep poultry farms across the country under close surveillance and report to the control room immediately cases of unusual death of chickens to prevent spread of bird flu, recently detected in Savar.
   ‘The deputy commissioners and livestock officers in the districts have been asked to intensify surveillance on poultry farms as a pre-emptive measure,’ the agriculture, fisheries and livestock adviser to the interim government, Chowdhury S Karim, told a press briefing at the secretariat on Saturday.
   Following the detection of the deadly H5N1 strain in chicks near Dhaka on Thursday, officials in the veterinary teams culled more than 36,000 birds of six farms located in Savar and Gazipur.
   The government claimed that no other cases were detected from any parts of the country, asking the general people not to get panicked by the Savar detection of avian influenza.
   Meanwhile, the council of advisers to the interim government at its regular meeting presided over by the chief adviser,
   Fakhruddin Ahmed, discussed the matter elaborately.
   The meeting held at the chief adviser’s office decided to compensate the poultry farm owners for culled chicks, said the spokesman for the chief adviser.
   ‘The cabinet has decided to compensate the farm owners…the detection is still confined to a certain area and there is nothing to worry about,’ Syed Fahim Munaim, the press secretary to the chief adviser, said while briefing newsmen after the meeting.
   Officials at the livestock ministry said the teams had so far culled a total of 36,000 chicks, of which 27,108 chicks were destroyed from four farms in Savar and 8,892 from two farms in Gazipur following confirmation of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in poultry samples.
   The measures were taken to prevent further spread of the virus, the fisheries and livestock secretary, Syed Ataur Rahman, said.
   Representatives from the World Health Organisation, the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the UNICEF were present at the press briefing.
   The experts confirmed that meat and eggs were totally safe for consumption after proper cooking.
   The secretary informed reporters that five teams had so far visited 810 poultry farms with more than 44 lakh of chicks located within 10 miles of Savar where virus strain was found in poultry samples.
   After the detection of the strain, the government held a special cabinet meeting on Thursday instructing the authorities concerned to take appropriate pre-emptive measures in this regard.
   There are at least 1,52,000 poultry farms across the country of which 52,000 are registered.
   New Age correspondent from Naraynaganj reports: About 5,000 chicks of a farm in the district died in the last six days. Local administration along with livestock officials visited the farm and sent samples for laboratory test.

    Bangladesh Govt. orders close surveillance to prevent spread of bird flu
From our ANI Correspondent

Dhaka, Mar.25: The interim government in Bangladesh has asked local administrations and livestock authorities to keep a close surveillance on poultry farms across the country and report to the control room immediately cases of unusual death of chickens to prevent the spread of bird flu, recently detected in Savar.






According to the Bangladesh daily New Age, deputy commissioners and livestock officers in the districts have been asked to intensify surveillance on poultry farms as a pre-emptive measure.

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock Adviser to the government, Chowdhury S Karim, told reporters here on Saturday that the deadly H5N1 strain in chicks had been detected near Dhaka on Thursday, leading veterinary teams to cull over 36,000 birds in six farms located in Savar and Gazipur.

The government claimed that no other cases were detected from any parts of the country, asking the general people not to panic.

News reports also said that the army has been called in to tackle the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, the Council of Advisers to the interim government at its regular meeting presided over by the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, discussed the matter elaborately.

The meeting held at the chief adviser's office decided to compensate the poultry farm owners for culled chicks, said the spokesman for the chief adviser.

'The cabinet has decided to compensate the farm owners...the detection is still confined to a certain area and there is nothing to worry about,' Syed Fahim Munaim, the press secretary to the chief adviser, said while briefing newsmen after the meeting.

Officials at the livestock ministry said the teams had so far culled a total of 36,000 chicks, of which 27,108 chicks were destroyed from four farms in Savar and 8,892 from two farms in Gazipur following confirmation of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in poultry samples.

The measures were taken to prevent further spread of the virus, the fisheries and livestock secretary, Syed Ataur Rahman, said.

Representatives from the World Health Organisation, the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the UNICEF were present at the press briefing.

The experts confirmed that meat and eggs were totally safe for consumption after proper cooking.

The secretary informed reporters that five teams had so far visited 810 poultry farms with more than 44 lakh of chicks located within 10 miles of Savar where virus strain was found in poultry samples.

After the detection of the strain, the government held a special cabinet meeting on Thursday instructing the authorities concerned to take appropriate pre-emptive measures in this regard.

There are at least 1,52,000 poultry farms across the country of which 52,000 are registered. (ANI with inputs)

    Bird flu alert in Tripura

Agartala, March 25: The Tripura government has sounded an alert against bird flu in the wake of reports of the disease in neighbouring Bangladesh, officials said today.

The Family Welfare Preventive Medicine and Animal Resource Development departments have jointly taken all possible steps to tackle avian flu, ARD director Narayan Chandra Das said.

The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has asked the state to take precautionary measures as cases of avian flu were reported from across the border, he said.

A total of 266 trained ARD assistants have been asked to be vigilant in border areas as Tripura imports a huge quantity of chicks and eggs from Bangladesh, officials said.

Bureau Report

Bangladesh - No ability to test for H5N1 Virus

According to the following article published in the Bangladesh Observer  Sunday 25 Mar 2007 .

Previous mass poultry bird deaths may well have been H5N1 even though they were not recorded as such,  because there is no ability to test for Bird flu in Bangladesh . 

That is likely to mean that atleast the mass bird deaths reported
in sherpur approx  11 Jan 2007 were also H5N1.

( The fact that  previous bird deaths could have been dismissed with
such casual lack of  investigation  does not inspire great  confidence
in future outcomes ) .
 

The detection of the deadly bird flu or avian flu virus at a poultry farm in Savar, first of its kind in the country, is going to have disastrous impact on the public health and economy of the country. The most alarming cause is that the detection of the virus is not possible in any laboratory of the country. No one knows if there was truth in the earlier rumour that the virus was found in poultry birds, because the authorities then did not care to send the afttected samples for test in laboratories abroad. This time the government has been quick to get the suspected virus tested in a laboratory in Singapore. Now that the most deadly strain of the virus has been confirmed, we feel the need for a laboratory in our country for testing it. In a country where a section of the poor people have no hesitation to grab the opportunity of taking formalin-treated fish, which were meant for incineration, home for eating, there is no guarantee that the poultry farm owners will volunteer to get their birds tested, quarantined and culled.

As the poultry birds have been suspect, most people will now avoid eating both eggs and chicken, easiest – if not the cheapest source – of protein. Those who used to run poultry business will be hit the hardest so far as their economy is concerned. It will be really difficult to supplement the protein supply from this sector as well as the economic activities including employment that changed many people’s lot. In a poor and highly populous country, therefore it is likely to spell a disaster even without the far worse scenario of the virus infection of humans unfolding. Because here the poultry owners or handlers of chicken have no protective gears, there is every possibility of the virus transferring from the birds to the humans. Once that happens, an avian flu pandemic among the humans can break out.

Clearly the situation demands urgent remedial measures so much so that the spread of the virus is checked and the damage limited. The government has told people not to be panicked and so far it has moved fast to deal with the situation. A set of precautionary measures it has taken in connection with the spread of the disease from the Savar poultry farm is equal to the c******enge. But more needs to be done. All the poultry farms in the country must be brought under immediate surveillance and tests have to be carried to find if the virus has struck other parts of the country or not. It is because of this there is a need for setting up a testing facility in the country. So far there is no report that the virus has affected any human in the country but we must be on our guard. There is a tendency here not to subject diseases to rigorous scrutiny and medical professionals, because of their lack of knowledge, pass unknown diseases simply as they think best. This has to change this time because of the potential threat of an epidemic if preventive methods are not adopted in time. Tamiflu, a type of medicine, has proved highly effective for treatment of the disease. It would be better if the medicine is locally produced or at least imported for meeting the future need.

    25/03/07 22h12 GMT+1

AFP News brief
Bird flu outbreak spreads in Bangladesh

Three new farms reported bird flu outbreaks in Bangladesh Sunday after thousands of poultry were destroyed last week due to confirmed cases of the deadly virus, the government said.

On Friday, authorities slaughtered more than 40,000 birds at six farms, a day after official confirmation of a bird flu outbreak on the outskirts of Dhaka.

The outbreak was now suspected to have spread to farms in the north and central parts of the country, government spokesman Abdul Motalib said.

"Today we have detected bird flu in three more farms in the northern district of Jamalpur and destroyed some 9,000 birds there. We will now destroy all the birds within a one-kilometre (0.6-mile) area of the infected farms," he said.

"We also have reports of mass deaths of chickens in central Narayanganj and northern Dinajpur districts. We have sent the samples to laboratories for tests," Motalib said.

Officials confirmed Bangladesh's first case of bird flu late Thursday after samples from one farm near the capital were sent to the National Institute of Animal Health in Bangkok and tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.

The caretaker government has agreed on a string of measures to prevent the spread of the disease in the densely-populated South Asian country of 144 million people.

The H5N1 virus has killed at least 169 people since late 2003, most of them in Asia, according to the World Health Organisation.

Scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form easily spread among humans, leading to a global pandemic with the potential to kill millions.

Bangladesh is home to hundreds of thousands of poultry farms which employ more than a million people.

The country had already banned imports of live birds from more than 50 countries including neighbouring India and Myanmar, after outbreaks were detected there

    

nine poultry farms ................. 26/3/07

Bangladesh says no human case of bird flu

    March 26 2007 at 01:31PM

Dhaka - There has been no human case of bird flu in Bangladesh, the health ministry said on Monday, after an outbreak of the H5N1 virus in nine poultry farms near the capital set off a scare in the densely populated country.

Blood samples of a number of workers at the farms, where the deadly virus was confirmed among chickens last week, tested negative for the deadly virus, Health Secretary Ehsan Ul Fattah told Reuters. The test was carried out at a local laboratory.

Bangladesh has already culled about 50 000 chickens since confirming the outbreak in the farms near the capital Dhaka and northern Jamalpur district.

"There is no human infection of the avian flu," Fattah said.

He said the country had sufficient stocks of flu drug Tamiflu and farm workers as well people living in nearby areas were being monitored closely.

The health ministry urged the media not to create panic after local newspapers and residents reported more chickens had become ill or had died, although not on a large scale.

At least 170 people have died of bird flu in 60 countries, mostly in Asia since 2003, media and other reports said. Health experts fear the virus could trigger a pandemic if it mutates to form a strain that can transmit between humans.
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=nw20070326125829800C229290
   

Comments first .....
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[A map of Bangladesh is available at
<http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/bangladesh_pol96.jpg>

The above newswire, from a national Bangladeshi newspaper, adds some
local tint to the previous media reports addressing the avian
influenza situation and the attempted control activities. According
to this source, the disease in poultry had already started at the
beginning of February 2007. Official notification, including the
recorded timeline and laboratory test results, is anticipated.

ProMED-mail's published on 17 Feb 2007 a request for information,
following media reports on undiagnosed human illness in northern
Bangladesh (see reference below). So far, no further information on
the said cases has been received. - Mod.AS]
Archive Number 20070327.1062
Published Date 27-MAR-2007
Subject PRO/AH/EDR> Avian influenza (60): Bangladesh



AVIAN INFLUENZA (60): BANGLADESH
********************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>


Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2007
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: The Daily Star, Bangladesh [edited]
<http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/03/27/d7032701085.htm>

More chickens culled
--------------------
Over 6000 chickens were culled yesterday [Mon, 26 Mar 2007], around
4000 at 3 poultry farms in Jamalpur and 2110 chickens at a farm in
Narayanganj, following confirmations and fears of bird flu infections
at those farms. Meanwhile, 400 chickens died at a farm in Gazipur due
to "unknown reasons". Free-ranged chickens in a 1km radius of those
farms will also be culled, livestock department sources said.

Earlier, around 40 000 chickens were culled at poultry farms in
Gazipur and Savar, Dhaka after bird flu was detected there.

The livestock sources said they could not cull any free-ranged
chickens near the Gazipur and Savar farms yesterday due to fund
shortages as they buy those chickens and kill them. "Today, we do
not have money to buy free-ranged chickens near the Gazipur farms.
Hopefully we will start again tomorrow," said a high-ranking official
working with the livestock department requesting
anonymity. Free-ranged chickens of different sizes, near the Gazipur
farm where bird flu was detected, were bought at Tk 80 [USD 1.18], Tk
60 [USD 0.88] and Tk 15 [USD 0.22] on Sunday and killed.

Sources working with the livestock department said a team comprising
high-ranking officials and experts from Dhaka drove to Sharishabari
upazila [Sub-District] in Jamalpur to conduct chicken culling. Fani
Bhusan Majumdar, deputy director of livestock department Dhaka
division led the team.

A correspondent from Jamalpur reports that a team from Dhaka reached
Sharishabari's bird flu infected farms -- Hasan Poultry Farm and Naz
Poultry Farm -- in Kuranipara. Under the supervision of the team of
experts from Dhaka, local officials and farm owners packed jute sacks
with chicken and buried those in a large ditch at Kuranipara.

The correspondent also said the chickens of those farms became sick
around a month and a half ago. Since then no less than 5000 chickens
have died, the report quoting local sources said. There are about
112 farms with layer chickens in Sharishabari upazila.

Our Narayanganj correspondent reports that the government issued
instructions to kill all chickens at the Sonakanda Poultry Farm
yesterday, although the authorities did not mention anything about
bird flu in Narayanganj. Recently, more than 5000 chickens died at
the farm within a very short period of time.

The farm sources said they collected 10 000 chicks from Phoenix
Poultry Farm in Savar and most of those have already died.

Emdadul Haq, upazila livestock officer, told The Daily Star yesterday
that they have received directions to kill 2110 chickens at the
Sonakanda Poultry Farm.

Around 400 chickens died at a poultry farm in Bhabanipur Bazar near
Jirani Bazar area in Gazipur, our Gazipur correspondent reports. The
chickens were instantly buried and samples were sent to Central
Disease Investigation Laboratory (CDIL), Phulbaria, Dhaka to find out
if they died of bird flu, Mirza Abdul Bari, upazila livestock officer
told The Daily Star.

Gazipur district livestock officials yesterday with the help of the
army surveyed 47 poultry farms in 5 upazilas of Gazipur. They checked
64 634 layer chickens and broiler chickens but did not find any new
cases of avian influenza infection.

The deputy commissioner of Sylhet district held a meeting there and
formed a District Task Force Committee to keep watch over poultry
farms in the district, our Sylhet correspondent reports. The meeting
also decided not to allow any [trade] in poultry products unless the
task force approved it.

--
[see also:
Avian influenza (59): Bangladesh, Thailand             20070324.1032
Avian influenza (58): Bangladesh, India, Pakistan,... 20070322.1008
Undiagnosed illness - Bangladesh: RFI        20070217.0597]
-------------------arn/jw

March  29  ,2007

Bird flu continues to spread Official preventive strategy yet to be followed in Jamalpur, Tangail Star Report In two poultry farms at Morelganj in Bagherhat yesterday 592 chickens died, which had been bought from Biman Poultry Hatchery in Savar, where the first case of Bird Flu had been detected, sources said. The district livestock officials sent samples of the chickens to Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI) but a report is yet to arrive. Livestock department officials are carrying out surveillance in all affected districts but did not take any measure to cull free range chickens in Jamalpur and Tangail within a kilometre radius of the infected farms there, which is supposed to be the official strategy for preventing spread of the virus. Our correspondent from Khulna reported that 592 chickens of two poultry farms under Morelganj upazila in Bagherhat died so far after being infected with Avian Influenza Virus. District Livestock Officer (DLO) Dr Rustam Khan said the chickens were brought to the farms on February 25 from Biman Poultry Farm in Savar near the capital where first case of Avian Influenza had been detected. Sources working with the livestock department said 492 of the dead chickens were in a poultry farm owned by Nasir Mollah of Sarolia village and 100 chickens were in a poultry farm owned by Saidur Rahman of Putikhali village under Morelganj upazila. All the 633 poultry farms in the district have been on red alert since Tuesday. Officials of the livestock department have been directed to cull all chickens within one to three kilometres of radius of the infected farms, Dr Rustam Khan said. Meanwhile, all poultry farms in Khulna city and the district which received chickens from Biman Poultry Farm in Savar have been kept under close observation by the Rapid Response Team. DLO of Khulna Obaidul Karim said in a news conference yesterday that he had not received any news of Bird Flu in the area till Tuesday. Reports received from Jamalpur said district livestock officers have yet to take any measure to cull free range chickens within a kilometre radius of the infected farms in the district. When asked, DLO Nazrul Islam said they got instructions from the head office to carry out a survey of birds and chickens within a kilometre radius of the infected farms. "Our manpower is too limited. We need two more days to complete the survey," he said. After completion of the survey, they will take necessary measures in line with the directions their central office in Dhaka gave them, he added. He however said all the farms around the infected ones are under watch. Our correspondent from Gazipur reported that district livestock officials so far carried out surveillance in 434 farms where the number of chickens is 7,20,024. The surveillance team found 25 dead chickens so far. Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association conducted a workshop on Avian Influenza there. Meanwhile, prices of eggs and chickens are showing signs of normalisation there, the report said adding that the price of a hundred eggs was Tk 340 and a broiler chicken was Tk 75 per kilogram there yesterday. Our Tangail correspondent reported that the livestock department of the district kept the poultry farms in 12 upazilas there under close supervision after detection of Bird Flu Virus in a farm under Bhuapur upazila on Tuesday. Medical teams led by livestock officials are visiting poultry farms of the district and examining the fowls. But they could not find any more Bird Flu affected poultry farm till filing of this report at 6:30pm. DLO of Tangail Dr Abdur Rashid told The Daily Star yesterday that they already opened control rooms in upazilas and in the district headquarters to prevent an epidemic. "We have taken measures to prevent spread of the virus," he said. According to the district livestock department, there are 2,476 poultry farms in 12 upazilas of the district and there is also a poultry hatchery under Ghatail upazila. Dr Akhil Chandra, upazila livestock officer in Bhuapur, told The Daily Star yesterday that they have kept the Bird Flu affected poultry farms in Routbari village quarantined. "We have taken necessary measures and held motivational programmes among the poultry farm owners in the upazila," he said. On information, about 2,000 fowls and over 4,000 eggs were buried in presence of representatives from the upazila administration and livestock officials in Routbari village on Tuesday night after Bird Flu Virus had been detected there. Our Narayanganj correspondent reported that about 600 chickens of a poultry farm in Malivita village under Bandar upazila were culled yesterday after being confirmed of Avian Flu infection. Meanwhile, Bangladesh Veterinary Association submitted to the government a six-point charter of preventive measures for consideration including implementation of strict quarantine in affected areas, launching of a massive awareness campaign to ameliorate panic among the people, and providing protective gear to field level workers who are handling poultry. It also sought steps from the government instructing poultry farm owners to use disposable trays for carrying eggs instead of reusable plastic trays.

Part of report .... ProMed

Previously, it was reported that avian influenza
experts participated in a team investigating the
unexplained death of 3 people in northern
Bangladesh, in mid-February 2007 (see
20070217.0597). It would help if the results of
the said investigation become available.

..........and ....[Examination of the full report for Bangladesh
gives some cause for concern .

Diagnostic test results
Laboratory name and type: Bangladesh Livestock
Research Institute (National laboratory)
Species: birds
Test: reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)
Test date: 13 Mar 2007
Result: positive

Laboratory name and type: Central Disease
Investigation Laboratory (National laboratory)
Species: birds
Test: rapid tests
Test date: 27 Feb 2007
Result: positive

Laboratory name and type: National Institute for
Animal Health, Bangkok (National laboratory)
Species: birds
Test: real-time PCR (RRT-PCR)
Test date: 21 Mar 2007
Result: positive

Species birds
Test: virus isolation
Test date: 21 Mar 2007
Result: positive

--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[An official "immediate notification" from
Bangladesh was sent to the OIE on 30 Mar 2007 --
see [4] above -- reporting 3 outbreaks in Dhaka
province; 2 of them occurred in the district of
Jamalpur, sub-district Sharishabari, reportedly
starting on 5 and 21 Feb 2007, respectively; the
3rd outbreak occurred in the district of Dhaka,
subdistrict Savar; reportedly, it had started on
22 Feb 2007. For details and map, see
<http://www.oie.int/wahid-prod/public.php?page=single_report&pop=1&reportid=5154>.

Previously, it was reported that avian influenza
experts participated in a team investigating the
unexplained death of 3 people in northern
Bangladesh, in mid-February 2007 (see
20070217.0597). It would help if the results of
the said investigation become available.
WHO map "World : Areas reporting confirmed
occurrence of H5N1 avian influenza in poultry and
wild birds since 1 Jan 2007, status as of
29.03.2007 (latest available update)" can be seen at
<http://gamapserver.who.int/mapLibrary/Files/Maps/Global_SubNat_H5N1inAnimalConfirmed_2007_20070329.png>.

- Mod.AS]

[Examination of the full report for Bangladesh
gives some cause for concern, as the largest of
the 3 flocks affected is a parent stock facility
with 32 000 layer birds. The other 2 facilities
are smaller commercial flocks with 2800 and 1000
birds respectively. The poultry industry in some
instances has a vertical structure in which
genetics flow down from grandparent and parent
stock to commercial flocks. This allows for rapid
advances in the genetic composition of the birds
involved, but can sometimes result in disease
transmission when birds, trucks, equipment, and
people move between facilities. - Mod.PC]

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