The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh (WTB) has said that migratory birds might be responsible for initial introduction of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Bangladesh, but "not mainly responsible" for outbreak of avian influenza (AI) in the country.

Referring to a report published in a Daily under a headline 'Migratory Birds Responsible for Bird Flu', the WTB said the report based on a FAO-BLRI joint study is an "obvious misrepresentation of fact."

In a press release, the WTB said that the sensational headline and the leading line of the news report can only mislead people and be counter-productive to what FAO has been doing in Bangladesh and the world over to contain AI.

"The news report makes no mention of the fact that no HPAI has been found in the migratory birds in Bangladesh so far," it said.

The WTB press release mentioned that HPAI has been found in only six cases out of 350,000 migratory birds tested all over the world.

The web-site of the Scientific Task Force on AI

(http://www.aiweb.info) has up-to-date information on AI. It has found no direct evidence of contamination of poultry with AI by the migratory birds anywhere in the world, the release noted.