Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is now recognized as a major global public health problem which has been aggravated by the irrational use of antimicrobial agents in human and animal health as well as the
FOWLS and eggs have dropped off the household menu due to heightened incidence of bird flu. Many restaurants, especially the wayside food vending shops are suspected to be selling curry made of cheaply bought off sick chicken to poor consumers. Due to their initial denial mode, the authorities failed to take timely precautions. The spread of avian flu has overtaken the livestock department's containment measures. Thus we face a fully blown crisis. There are a few ways in which we have been hard hit: first, the rather affordable source of protein in a market boiling over with highly priced mutton, beef and fish, the nutrient intake among the poor and middle income groups has touched a new low. More seriously, in the last one year, the poultry industry has sustained losses of at least Tk 4100 crore owing to outbreak of avian influenza, on and off -- thanks to poor surveillance and monitoring. This has had ominous ramifications on the rural economy in particular and the national economy in general. As it is, livestock took a severe battering from two successive floods followed by cyclone Sidr last year. As though that was not enough of a blow to the rural economy we now encounter the fallout of bird flu. Poultry industry has been a fast developing sector with bank loans and micro-credits funneled into it fostering a whole range of medium and small enterprises. Millions of people are dependent on the poultry industry, either by employment or through wholesale and retail networks. We can suggest three specific steps to revitalise the industry. First and foremost, bank loans on concessional rate of interest should be given to poultry farmers. Secondly, those who had taken loans from the banks their repayment must be rescheduled. Last but not least, the consumers need to be sensitised about cooking fowls and eggs in temperature above 70 degrees centigrade which makes it safe for consumption. Insofar as handling chicken is concerned gloves and masks need to be used. There seems to be a flurry among poultry industry owners in seeking bank loans and compensations. We must be able to separate the chaff from the grain and provide support to the eligible ones.
Moulvibazar district is in high risk of avian influenza (bird flue) as haors in the area are favourite places of migratory birds that are potential carriers of the virus. Every winter lakhs of birds from the cold region in the north come here and their number has recently increased in Hakaluki and Hail haors following environment-friendly steps taken by the Department of Environment (DoE). Migratory birds are one of the carriers of bird flue virus but there is no laboratory in Moulvibazar district to conduct tests for detection of the bird flu virus, experts said. Following detection of bird flue virus in a poultry farm in Kulaura upazila in January, people of the district are in panic of the virus. Hakaluki Haor, one of the largest haors of the country, covers 20 thousand hectares of land in three upazilas of Moulvibazar and two upazilas of Sylhet district. Another big haor, Hail haor comprises areas in two upazilas of Moulvibazar and one upazila of Habiganj district. So the area sees large gathering of migratory birds in winter. Dr Nurul Islam, upazila livestock officer of Juri upazila in Moulvibazar, said a laboratory to examine bird flue virus should be urgently set up at a place in eastern part of Moulvibazar district.
The government is to announce a poultry policy aimed at ensuring a hygienic, well-managed and sustainable industry. "We are framing the policy to enable the industry grow under regulations. It's at a final stage. We are hopeful to make the policy effective from the next month,' said Sunil Chandra Ghosh, director general of Department of Livestock Services. Earlier, a committee comprising representatives from private sector and the government framed a draft policy. The draft of the policy titled 'National Poultry Development Policy, which focused mainly on commercial poultry farming, is going to be announced after about seven years. The initiative to formulate the policy was taken in 2001. Under the policy, commercial poultry farms will be required to get registrations. The farms must not be set up in densely populated areas. The draft policy has also fixed the minimum distance between two commercial farms. Moreover, no commercial farm can be set up within two kilometers of grand parent stock and parent stock producing farms. The farms must ensure hygiene, the draft policy said. To assess the demand and supply for day old chicks in local market, the government will develop a database by receiving production related information from the public and private breeding farms and hatcheries. Moshiur Rahman, convener of Bangladesh Poultry Industries Co-ordination Committee, said the database will remove the inconsistency in production of poultry chicks. "In absence of any production and supply related data, sometimes production surpasses the demand while sometimes poor supply push the prices of day-old chicks up due to supply crunch,' he said. The government is going to finalise the policy when the country's Tk 8,000 crore poultry industry is struggling to survive in the aftermath of bird flu that led to closure of thousands of farms. Operators hoped the policy will help put an end to the trend of setting up of poultry farms indiscriminately. According to the policy, a Livestock and Poultry Quality Assurance Institute will be established. sohel@thedailystar.net
Since heat destroys the H5N1 virus that causes bird flu, threat to birds and humans is expected to diminish with a rise in mercury level as the summer comes closer. These views were expressed by Dr Faisal Mehmood, Assistant Professor at Infectious Diseases Department of Aga Khan University Hospital, in his presentation at the PMA House on Saturday. He said that avian virus did not affect humans until 1997 when an outbreak of bird flu infected 18 people and caused six deaths in Hong Kong. Since then, human cases of bird flu had been reported in different parts of the world, including Asia and Europe, he added. "Most cases were traced to be in contact with infected poultry or bird-contaminated surfaces,' he said, adding that avian influenza virus often originated in areas where people live in close proximity to chickens. Dr Mehmood observed that an outbreak of bird flu was not as big a risk for general public as for the poultry workers. It could be controlled by culling the infected birds. However, he warned that available research did hint that the virus could mutate at some point in the future and trigger a lethal human flu pandemic. He elaborated that H5N1 mutated quickly and was able to incorporate large blocks of genetic code from viruses that infected other species, a process called re-assortment. For that reason, he said, H5N1 had particular potential to combine with a human flu virus, creating a new viral strain that was feared to spread rapidly from person to person. Under all conditions the most practical precaution effective at preventing a repeat of the dreadful bird flu history of the past could be hand hygiene, he stressed. "Over 90 per cent of viruses like bird flu enter our bodies through contact between the mucous membranes of eyes, nose and finger nails,' he said. The speaker mentioned that the exact incubation period of bird flu in humans was not clear though illness appeared to develop within one to five days of exposure to the virus. People fell sick after direct contact with infected birds or bird-contaminated surfaces and not from contact with other animals, he added. He regretted that a very few people were aware of the possible risk factors though the reported human cases of avian influenza included people from all ages. When asked about its treatment, he said no effective vaccine could be developed till bird flu virus mutated and the patients were prescribed antiviral drugs and antibiotics. He stressed that improved public amenities like running water and improved hygiene could be the first and most practical line of defence against killer viruses like the bird flu. Earlier, PMA Karachi General-Secretary Dr Samreena Hashmi introduced the speaker and highlighted the objectives of the session.
As test results confirmed the presence of the dreaded Avian Influenza (AI) virus in a Malir farm on Saturday evening
A high-level expert committee meeting involving the representatives of the State Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department and a host of other related departments today formally recommended the lifting of poultry import ban in Assam, with the final notification likely to be issued in two days. Moreover, the committee has also vouched for the formulation of a special developmental scheme, which would aim at compensating the loss incurred by the farmers of the poultry industry in the State after the government ordered culling of birds as a precautionary measure.
GUWAHATI, Feb 17
Culling of about 1.50 lakh chickens at Omega Poultry Farm in the city's Badda area continued for the second consecutive day on Sunday. The avian influenza virus was detected at the poultry farm on Friday and the livestock department started culling the chickens of the farm on Saturday. Dhaka district livestock officer Sheikh Saidur Rahman told New Age on Sunday that they culled 95,048 chickens of the farm till 7:00pm, and would kill 54,000 more chickens.
The country's poultry industry continues to be in grave peril with sales already halved due to panic among consumers in the wake of recent bird flu outbreaks, operators said. Many restaurants have already taken chicken off their menus while home consumption too has slumped. "We are going broke. We are selling chicks to poultry farmers at a token price to minimise our losses,' said Shah Habibul Haque, director of Aftab Bahumukhi Farm Ltd, a leading poultry hatchery. He claims their business has incurred on average a loss of Tk 2 crore every month since November last year. "Things look even grimmer for small farm owners. They are losing their capital,' he said adding that currently they charge only Tk 7-8 for a day-old chick, about one third of production cost at Tk 22. The avian influenza, which broke out in Bangladesh early last year, has now reached epidemic proportions sweeping across the poultry industry that accounts for over 1.6 percent of GDP. According to official data, the government has detected bird flu virus in 152 farms in 43 districts and culled 6.42 lakh fowls as of February 16. Operators report a loss of nearly Tk 5,000 crore because of plummeting sales coupled with a steady rise in the prices of poultry feeds. "At a rough estimate, we have made a loss of nearly Tk 5,000 crore,' said Moshiur Rahman, convener of Poultry Industries Co-ordination Committee. Industry sources said thousands of farms have been forced to shut down in a year due to bird flu outbreaks and hike in prices of feed ingredients. Around half a crore people are directly or indirectly employed in the industry involving 1.5 lakh farms. "Our sales have dropped drastically,' said Delwar Hossain, owner of Janata Poultry at the Kaptan Bazar, one of the biggest wholesale-cum-retail markets for poultry products in the capital. He said daily sales in his wholesale store hovered around Tk 1.50 lakh in January. "Now I struggle to have sales of Tk 25,000 a day,' he said. Khokon Mia, a retailer at Kaptan Bazar, said the sales at his shop have dropped 58 percent on point to point basis. In retail outlets, chickens sell at Tk 65-70 a kg, whereas only a month ago they would cost Tk 80-85 a kg. "I sold Tk 67,300 worth of poultry on January 16, but in a month, it dropped to Tk 28,000. We are going through a terrible time. People have incredibly cut down on their poultry intake,' said Khokon who also supplies live chickens and eggs to a number of city restaurants. Restaurants and party centres are having their share of troubles with chicken consumption taking a nosedive. "The consumption has fallen by around 50 percent amid bird flu scare,' said Ali Akbar Badal, general manager of XINXIAN, a Chinese restaurant at Kalabagan. Star Kabab's Karwan Bazar branch Manager Mohammad Shahin said their restaurant too has seen a sharp drop in consumption of chickens and eggs. "It's a serious crisis as the plunging demand for poultry pushes the farmers and hatcheries to huge losses,' said head of Brac Poultry MA Saleque, who believes overall consumption has been slashed by half.
At least 5,000 chickens have been culled at a poultry farm in the Malipur area after a report of the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, confirmed presence of H5N1 virus.The district livestock officer of Mansehra Dr Ali Akber Khan told Dawn that after the confirmation of the H5N1 virus by the NIH laboratory, over 5,000 chickens were culled in the poultry farm. He said that the infected poultry farm had been sealed, while vaccine was being administered in other areas to check the spread of the bird flu virus. Responding to a question, Dr Akber said that fortunately no worker of the said poultry farm had been infected by the virus. Meanwhile, sources in the provincial health department told this correspondent that a team of the World Health Organisation, which was already monitoring the situation in Hazara region, had reached Mansehra to review the situation.
