Avian flu prompts mass slaughter
Livestock authorities in Bangladesh have made the decision to carry out a mass slaughter after an outbreak of avian flu was discovered on a giant poultry farm near Dhaka.
The deadly H5N1 flu strain was first detected at Bay Argo farm located at Gazipur - 25 miles north of Dhaka. Samples were sent to a laboratory for testing after dozens of chickens were found dead.
Livestock Department Director Mosaddeq Hossain said: "There are about 150,000 chickens at the farm. We have already killed and destroyed 120,000 chickens and we will kill the rest today.”
Officials have reported that the outbreak is the worst seen in five years.
In February 2007, Bangladesh was hit by bird flu and over one million birds were slaughtered on thousands of farms. Since then, the flu has ravaged the country, seriously affecting one of the world's largest poultry industries.
March 2010 saw the last major outbreak recorded in the country, where at least 117,000 chickens and 200,000 eggs were destroyed at a farm in northern Bangladesh. The country has also reported six confirmed human cases of bird flu since May 2008, but the government's health department said all have recovered.
The latest outbreak is the 23rd to be recorded in 2012. Even before this mass slaughter, a total of 107,252 chickens had been destroyed from 22 farms.
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
