Dhaka (AsiaNews/Agencies) – First infection of avian flu amongst the birds in Bangladesh. In the mean time, the avian flu has spread throughout the capital Pakistan and turns to Saudi Arabia. The Ministry of Information in Bangladesh said yesterday that the virus was found in the poultry farm in Savar, 25 km. from Dhaka.
To contain the infection, over 30 thousand chickens have been killed in a few days and the area has been quarantined. Syed Abu Siddig, secretary of the Association of the Poultry industry in Bangladesh, explains that there are over 125 thousand poultry farms in the country of various dimensions that produce 250 million chickens and 6 billion eggs per year. Therefore, the spread of the virus could also cause very serious economic consequences. Furthermore, many people live near the farms, in a country that has one of the most dense populations.
Some time ago, the borders with Myanmar and India (countries already infected) acted as armed guards to protect against smuggling of poultry into the country. In the last few months, the guards have seized and burned thousands of chickens. The country is also crossed by birds and the virus was found in an area near to a famous wild bird natural habitat.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Agriculture of Saudi Arabia confirmed that the H5N1 bird flu was found last month in peacocks, turkey, and parrots. All the birds in the area were killed, but no other details were given. In 2006, 37 falcons were found infected.
In Islamabad, More cases of the H5N1 strain of bird flu were confirmed in the Pakistani capital after dead crows found on the streets tested positive for thevirus. Mohammad Azfal, head of the country’s livestock monitoring authority said, that two of the tests carried out on the birds in the zoo (closed since last month) demonstrated the presence of the virus that can mutate and cause illness in humans.
Exams were also conducted in Rawalpindi, where chickens also died. Pakistan also had an epidemic in 2006 amongst the birds in the north-west frontier province, resulting in the culling of 40 thousand birds.
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