The New Nation - Internet Edition

Sheikh Arif Bulbon

The spread of deadly bird flu in the country has forced the closure of 40 per cent of the poultry farms and left half a million poultry workers jobless, said officials of the Bangladesh Poultry Association.

The virus was still 'under control,' although it has spread to 43 out of the country's 64 districts, forcing authorities to slaughter some 800,000 birds, said the Livestock officials.

Abdul Baki, Principal Scientific Officer of the Livestock Department, said, "It is a natural disaster like cyclone or floods. The poor farmers who raise chickens in their backyards are particularly hard hit by the bird flu. But we still think things are under control,"

The government was launching a massive plan to compensate affected farmers, he added.

His comments came as the authorities struggled to slaughter another 160,000 birds in one of the largest farms in Dhaka.

The Livestock officials said it would take another day to complete the slaughter.

The outbreak at Omega Poultry Farm in the capital showed the disease was out of control, said the officials.

MM Khan, a senior official of the Poultry Association, said, "Omega is one of the top farms which meticulously maintained international bio-safety regulations but it was not spread by the deadly flu."

"The situation is so bad nobody is buying any poultry these days. They are panicking. The crows and migrant birds are spreading the flu everywhere, leaving authorities simply hopeless," said M Khan.

Already some supermarkets in Dhaka have suspended poultry sales, he said.

The flu has forced closure of at least 40 per cent of the country's estimated 150,000 commercial farms, leaving at least half a million people jobless, he also said.

The government has repeatedly urged people not to be frightened and begun a major drive to assure that eating cooked poultry poses no health dangers.

It is also giving farmers Tk 105 compensation for each chicken slaughtered because of the virus.

Bird flu was first hit in the country on February 22, 2007 but the disease became dormant. Outbreak resurfaced in January this year when the country's 20 new districts were hit. So far in February another 11 districts have been hit, according to the Livestock Department.

Poultry industry in Bangladesh is one of the world's largest which producing 220 million chickens and 37 million ducks annually.