Bangladesh is grappling with the deadly H5N1 virus, commonly called Bird Flu. Authorities are struggling to combat the fatal virus as it spreads its tentacles across the farms in the country. A leading expert has dubbed the situation as very grave.
Bangladesh is home to hundreds of thousands of poultry farms employing more than a million people. The country first reported the breaking of the disease at a farm in late March near the capital Dhaka. So far it has engulfed more than 40 farms in 11 districts, prompting authorities to cull 151,000 birds. Government officials are facing enormous challenges in combating the virus in the nation, where resources are badly stretched.
Government spokesman Abdul Motalib said:
The situation is not grave yet. But with limited technical men and working seven days a week, we have been struggling to combat the deadly disease.
However, leading poultry industry expert M. M. Khan contradicted the government spokesman’s statement saying that the situation was much worse than the government described. He further added:
The situation is very grave and a disaster could happen any time. There have been a lot of unreported bird flu deaths in farms and cover-ups. The flu is no longer confined to farms. Recently it infected domestic birds and fowls and there’s a real danger it could infect humans in densely populated Bangladesh. The farmers are not reporting bird flu deaths to government authorities for fear of losses in their farms and pressure by adjoining farms. There is hardly any monitoring. The whole situation lacks transparency and even though we have had the flu for about two months, the government still lacks doctors, technical people and the protection kits to combat the disease,
A farm in the northern Nilphamari district was the latest in the list to be infected with the deadly virus on Friday. More than 3,000 chickens and ducks have been culled there.
Wild migratory birds have been blamed for the global spread of the disease. H5N1 strain could mutate and develop the ability to pass from human to human. Yet, so far there have been no reports of human infection in Bangladesh.
Bird flu hit the headlines in 2003 when it first struck in South-East Asia affecting poultry flocks and than spreading its tentacles worldwide. Since that year, more than 175 people have lost their lives to this deadly virus around the globe.
The biggest area of concern is that the country lacks proper facilities to detect the disease and usually sends samples to Bangkok. And if the Bangladeshi government does not step up its efforts to fight the deadly disease, we could soon see a “Southeast Asia-like” situation.
UN has pledged aid to Bangladesh to tackle the disease.
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Via:Yahoo