Banglidesh Field staff warned against negligence

Field staff warned against negligence

Dhaka, Oct 16 (bdnews24.com)   – As bird flu control largely depends on field veterinary officials, the livestock secretary has warned against any negligence in duty. Uzzwal Bikash Dutta said they would take 'zero tolerance' policy against any negligence (of duty). "Combating bird flu needs strong commitment from the field staff." The secretary, however, did not specify whether livestock staff neglect their duty. His comment came at a seminar on emerging infectious diseases, including bird flu, on Sunday in the capital amid the United Nations warning of a possible major resurgence of bird flu in Asia. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Aug 29 said Bangladesh, India, China, Egypt, Indonesia and Vietnam could face biggest problems as the virus is still firmly entrenched. The alarm has also stoked fears of a public health threat. Livestock experts at the seminar suggested ensuring bio-security at poultry farms and reducing the gap between outbreak reporting and response can help in controlling the avian influenza virus. "We should also take multi-disciplinary efforts taking poultry farmers on board," said Mohammad Abul Kalam, head of the epidemiology unit of the livestock department. He also stressed on containment of the disease 'at source'. Chief veterinary officer Musaddique Hossain said maintaining bio-security in backyard poultries has become a challenge. "We should have at least a dedicated worker in every village to monitor the situation," he said. He laid emphasis on farmers' awareness so that they report immediately after any usual death or illness in their farms. Since its first outbreak in March 2007, the government has so far reported 524 bird flu outbreaks and culled over 2.4 million chickens and destroyed over 3 million eggs. Livestock minister Abdul Latif Biswas sought continued support of development partners to eliminate bird flu from Bangladesh. The government has introduced a strip test for instant diagnosis and developed a mobile network for getting reports from farmers through short message service, the seminar was told. Experts, however, advised to spot the hideouts of the virus during its off season. http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=209067&cid=13