Bangladesh News

The government yesterday instructed Dhaka City Corporation to extend its cleanliness drive to all the poultry markets in the city as a precautionary measure to fend off bird flu spread.

Poultry sellers, meantime, said their sale has dropped drastically in the last few days due to panic among customers. They have asked the government to take immediate steps to save the industry by launching a campaign to remove panic.

They were attending an inter-ministerial meeting on bird flu at the LGRD ministry.

“Running the cleanliness drive at 27 city corporation poultry markets won’t do. You have to clean 300 other poultry markets,” LGRD Adviser Anwarul Iqbal told DCC officials.

DCC collects blood, feathers, skin and faeces from its markets and dump those at a safer place in Matuail in Demra twice a day to stop the spread of H5N1 virus.

“The takeaway process also needs to be safe so that the virus doesn’t spread on the way,” the adviser said.

“Though bird flu has spread to a great extent, we think it has not spun out of our control,” LGRD Secretary Murshid Alam said.

DCC Chief Executive Officer M Alauddin detailed city corporation’s move to contain H5N1 spread since January 24 and said the activities are not enough.

The LGRD adviser later instructed the DCC to pick up the poultry remains thrice a day.

The poultry sellers asked the government to undertake immediate publicity campaigns to remove the fear of bird flu spread into humans by eating poultry.

“Our sale has dropped to 10 percent in the last three days. The industry cannot survive if this continues,” said Golam Motafa Babul, president of Dhaka City Poultry Marketing Cooperative Society.

Director General of Livestock Department Sunil Chandra Ghosh said 70 degrees Celsius temperature kills H5N1 and cooked chicken is safe for being cooked in minimum 100 degrees Celsius.

He however asked everyone not to eat poached eggs.

The supply of poultry has also stopped due to culling. A trader said they received only three baskets yesterday.

On allegation from poultry traders, the LGRD adviser instructed law enforcers not to bar a safe supply from entering the city.

The administration yesterday culled 1,540 chickens, 115 ducks and pigeons and destroyed 1,250 eggs of Molla Poultry Farm in Shahjahanpur upazila, reports our Bogra correspondent.

As many as 105 dead fowls were found on by a canal at West Tootpara village

yesterday, adds our Khulna correspondent. The dead fowls were not removed till 6:00pm.