Dhaka, Saturday February 4, 2012
Bird flu affected chickens are being supplied to the local markets due to lack
of monitoring and proper policy support to the poultry farmers by the authority,
said sector insiders.
They said the farmers are selling their infected chickens in the markets hiding the information as the government does not compensate the farmers adequately.
The experts warned that if sick poultry birds are supplied to the markets it will create a severe health hazard to the people as it is very contagious and harmful for humans.
The outbreak of bird flu this season is the highest since the first appearance of the disease in the country according to the Bangladesh Poultry Industries' Association (BPIA).
The farmers said almost everyday new farms are being attacked by the avian influenza (bird flu). Last week a good number of poultry farms in Netrokona, Kishorganj, Pabna, Brahamanbaria, Feni, Cox's Bazar, Bogra have been affected by the virus.
Maximum number of poultry farms in the country has been affected by the bird flu, said BPIA Joint Secretary General Khandokar Mohsin. "Normally the disease breaks out in the beginning of winter and now it is the end of the season".
BPIA Joint Secretary General said though the government has allocated compensation for the bird flu affected poultry farms, it is very insufficient and irregular.
He also said the authority does not include many of the bird flu affected farms in the list for compensation. So usually the poultry farmers do not report to the department of livestock and incur loss, he added.
The government has allocated Tk 20.0 million in the current fiscal year to compensate for the bird flu affected farms but until now the farm owners did not get any money.
"Due to financial crises many professional and skilled poultry farmers have closed their business last year," he added.
"It is really a fearful situation for our health sector but the government is lingering the problem from several years," said, Kazi Farms chairman and Bangladesh Breeders Association ex President Kazi Jahidul Hasan.
The country's largest poultry producer said Bangladesh is one of the critical five bird flu affected countries in the world which is yet to introduce it vaccine.
But other most risky countries like India, Vietnam, China and Egypt introduced vaccine to prevent the disease, he added.
The the is gradually becoming chronic in the local poultry sector, said Mr Hasan adding that as the government's method for bio-security have already failed, the authority should introduce vaccine to prevent the disease immediately.
He also mentioned that the production of baby chickens decreased sharply due to outbreak of bird flu.
Chairman of Microbiology Department of Dhaka University Dr Anwar Hossain said though the virus does not remain in cooked meat but those who are handling the live chickens and fresh meats will be affected by the virus.
He also warned that if bird flu virus and normal influenza virus mixes, it can create a new mutiliated virus and may be very harmful.
"So there is no alternative but to isolate of the chicken to protect the health of the people from the disease," he added.
Department of Livestock Services control room officials said 51,757 chickens were culled while 22,649 eggs were destroyed in January this year in five farms located in Manikganj, Dhaka, Sirajgonj and Narayanganj due to the outbreak of bird flu.
According to the BPIA, the country had 114,763 poultry farms in 2009 but following the spread of bird flu, the farms reduced to 74,000 in 2010 and 64,000 in 2011.
The authorities culled nearly 0.579 million chickens while it destroyed about 570,000 eggs from 171 poultry farms across the country last year.
Department of Livestock Services Director Dr Musaddique Hossain said for preventing the disease the department has already taken up various initiatives.
"We have taken awareness creating programmes and trained the poultry farmers how to save their chickens the flu," he said.
They said the farmers are selling their infected chickens in the markets hiding the information as the government does not compensate the farmers adequately.
The experts warned that if sick poultry birds are supplied to the markets it will create a severe health hazard to the people as it is very contagious and harmful for humans.
The outbreak of bird flu this season is the highest since the first appearance of the disease in the country according to the Bangladesh Poultry Industries' Association (BPIA).
The farmers said almost everyday new farms are being attacked by the avian influenza (bird flu). Last week a good number of poultry farms in Netrokona, Kishorganj, Pabna, Brahamanbaria, Feni, Cox's Bazar, Bogra have been affected by the virus.
Maximum number of poultry farms in the country has been affected by the bird flu, said BPIA Joint Secretary General Khandokar Mohsin. "Normally the disease breaks out in the beginning of winter and now it is the end of the season".
BPIA Joint Secretary General said though the government has allocated compensation for the bird flu affected poultry farms, it is very insufficient and irregular.
He also said the authority does not include many of the bird flu affected farms in the list for compensation. So usually the poultry farmers do not report to the department of livestock and incur loss, he added.
The government has allocated Tk 20.0 million in the current fiscal year to compensate for the bird flu affected farms but until now the farm owners did not get any money.
"Due to financial crises many professional and skilled poultry farmers have closed their business last year," he added.
"It is really a fearful situation for our health sector but the government is lingering the problem from several years," said, Kazi Farms chairman and Bangladesh Breeders Association ex President Kazi Jahidul Hasan.
The country's largest poultry producer said Bangladesh is one of the critical five bird flu affected countries in the world which is yet to introduce it vaccine.
But other most risky countries like India, Vietnam, China and Egypt introduced vaccine to prevent the disease, he added.
The the is gradually becoming chronic in the local poultry sector, said Mr Hasan adding that as the government's method for bio-security have already failed, the authority should introduce vaccine to prevent the disease immediately.
He also mentioned that the production of baby chickens decreased sharply due to outbreak of bird flu.
Chairman of Microbiology Department of Dhaka University Dr Anwar Hossain said though the virus does not remain in cooked meat but those who are handling the live chickens and fresh meats will be affected by the virus.
He also warned that if bird flu virus and normal influenza virus mixes, it can create a new mutiliated virus and may be very harmful.
"So there is no alternative but to isolate of the chicken to protect the health of the people from the disease," he added.
Department of Livestock Services control room officials said 51,757 chickens were culled while 22,649 eggs were destroyed in January this year in five farms located in Manikganj, Dhaka, Sirajgonj and Narayanganj due to the outbreak of bird flu.
According to the BPIA, the country had 114,763 poultry farms in 2009 but following the spread of bird flu, the farms reduced to 74,000 in 2010 and 64,000 in 2011.
The authorities culled nearly 0.579 million chickens while it destroyed about 570,000 eggs from 171 poultry farms across the country last year.
Department of Livestock Services Director Dr Musaddique Hossain said for preventing the disease the department has already taken up various initiatives.
"We have taken awareness creating programmes and trained the poultry farmers how to save their chickens the flu," he said.
Hattip Shiloh
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