Major Motiur Rahman of Bangladesh Rifles said that they seized 16000 Indian chickens from border areas in eastern district of Comilla and northern district of Rajshahi which were later burned due to the fear of bird flu.
Bangladesh has tightened its border security following the outbreak of bird flu in India. Officials of Bangladesh health service said that there has been no reported outbreak of the H5N1 virus. Health ministry official said that a close watch on the borders and within the country was kept to monitor all poultry farms. He said that so far there is no sign of any outbreak of bird flu. Bangladesh has about 150,000 poultry farms with an annual turnover of $750 million dollars. Despite all the safety precautions and surveillance poultry production and consumption had fallen recently on bird flu fears.He also reported that Bangladesh has banned the import of poultry from 25 bird flu-hit countries, including India, as a precaution and asked border forces to crack down on smuggling of birds. The H5N1 avian influenza virus has spread in birds at an alarming rate in recent months, sweeping through parts of Europe, into Africa, and in Asia. It has killed at least 105 people. Bird flu has delivered a major blow to poultry trade in India. Moshiur Rahman, secretary of poultry Breeders Association of Bangladesh said that production of young chickens have fallen from 4.5 or 5 million to 3.5 or 4 million per week.
