Bird flu may return big time in B'desh: UN

Dhaka/Rome, Aug 29
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In Bangladesh, bird flu infections were widespread last year, and fresh cases are reported countrywide.
Director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Prof Mahmudur Rahman said the UN alarm was justified.

"It's a hotspot for virus mutation as four strains – H5N1, H1N1, H3N2 and H9N2 – are circulating in the air," he said, but nothing can be predicted about virus mutation.

But if it (mutation) does not happen, then its fine, he said.

The H5N1 virus was eliminated from most of the 63 countries infected at its peak in 2006 after mass poultry culling, but since 2008 it has been expanding geographically in both poultry and wild birds, partly due to migration patterns, the FAO said.

"But we could not eliminate due to our poor bio-security measures in poultry farms," Prof Rahman said, adding, the virus is widespread in Bangladesh poultry.

"Even now, we are noticing outbreaks in unusual times," he said, referring to the Aug 27's outbreak in Chuadanga where over 21,000 chickens were culled.

H5N1 (virus) has the potential to cause severe illness in human with a high fatality rate.

"We are lucky as the strain (clade 2.2) of H5N1 which circulates in Bangladesh is less virulent, but can be changed into another class (2.1), which is highly infectious to human," the IEDCR director said.

Since the first outbreak in poultry in March 2007, Bangladesh has recorded three human infections so far...


The IEDCR director said livestock department should be "pro-active" to stave off the virus.

"They (livestock department) should encourage people to maintain bio-security in farms," he said, suggesting only those farms that ensure bio-security but still are affected by bird flu get compensated.

The government now compensates all farms after culling their bird flu-infected chickens.

The IEDCR advised people consume well-cooked poultry products and maintain personal hygiene - cough into the crook of elbow and wash hands with soap often - to keep the infection away.