Unsafe bird marketing and poultry, risk for bird flu

EUROBD NEWS: The widespread practice of slaughtering chickens and other poultry birds in unhygienic and unsafe ways tend to foil government efforts to minimise the risks of the spread of bird flu infection from the city’s poultry markets.
Health experts on Monday attributed bird flu infection in the country to non maintenance of bio-security measures at poultry firms as well as the countless backyard poultry.
On Sunday the government confirmed the first bird flu-related death in five years since human infection by H5N1 virus was recently detected in the country.
A 23-month old boy from Chauddogram in Comilla died of bird flu infection at a city hospital on February 18, confirmed the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research. He was the seventh bird flu infected case in recent time, said IEDCR director Mahmudur Rahman. He said that the infections originated from backyard poultry.

There is a strong epidemiological link between human infection and backyard poultry, he said.  Backyard poultry is one of the major sources of virus transmission in Bangladesh as the products are consumed locally, said IEDCR’s chief scientific officer M Mushtuq Husain.
‘In the villages,’ he said, ‘families even keep their chicken under their sleeping cots out of the fear that they would be stolen.’  People do not even wash their hands after handling eggs and chickens, he said.
There are different levels of bio-security, which should be maintained at poultry firms as well as at backyard poultry, said the experts.
The first level prohibits poultry and humans staying together in one house, said World Health Organisation scientist ASM Alamgir.
Chickens and ducks should not be reared together, he said. For infection control, he said, the use of gloves, masks, shoe covers was a must while handling poultry, he said.
The wheels of vans used for carrying poultry to markets must be washed with soap, he added. Companies and shops should take proper precautionary measures in storing chickens or other poultry birds.
The experts said these measures are not followed in the country. Three persons were infected with bird flu virus from live bird markets, said IEDCR. Four others were infected at backyard poultry, they said.

The livestock and health experts advised shopkeepers to use masks and gloves while slaughtering and cleaning chickens and other poultry birds. They were also advised to wash their hands properly with soap after slaughtering and cleaning the birds.
The experts requested all to inform the government authorities in case of death of birds and to keep the dead birds or their intestines at a fixed place before either burying them or handing them over to the city corporation. They also advised the live bird traders to keep their shops and adjacent drains decontaminated using disinfectants.

Birds are slaughtered at open places in the poultry market without wearing masks or gloves, said Nazim Uddin, a poultry bird shop worker at Malibag. ‘I wash my hands only with water and keep the intestines, skins and feathers in a pot before dumping them in a nearby dustbin,’ he said.
Anwer Hossain a poultry seller at Karwan Bazaar, said he buys and sells 500 to 600 chickens each day.  ‘Everyday some birds remain unsold and we buy new birds form the whole sale market,’ he said.
The picture is no different at other kitchen markets including Shantinagar Bazaar, Rampura, Khilgaon, Goran, Shewrapara, Mohammadpur Town Hall, Krishi Market, Farmgate, New Market, Hatirpool, Thatari Bazaar and Fakirapool Bazaar.
The Dhaka North City Corporation and the Dhaka South City Corporation officials said that they had taken bio-security measures to stop selling and slaughtering of poultry on Mondays. They said that the weekly day off was meant for the shop keepers to clean their outlets.  But, the two city corporations failed to enforce the decision.
DSCC chief health officer M Abdullah Al Harun claimed that his enforcers closed 44 poultry markets on Monday as part of bio-security and no chicken or other poultry birds were sold on the day.

The first human case of bird flu infection in Bangladesh was detected in May, 2008. And the second and third cases were detected in 2011.  The country generally faces the risk of bird flu infection between November and April.

Category: English News