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Bird flu virus detected in another Bangladesh province

Bird flu has caused losses of about 45 billion Taka ($650 million) to the poultry sector, which generates more than $1.8 billion annually.

  • Agencies
  • Published: 12:05 February 24, 2008
  • Gulf News

Dhaka: Bird flu has spread to another district in Bangladesh despite massive culling by authorities to fight the deadly outbreak, officials said, bringing the number of affected districts to 44 out of the country's 64.

The latest outbreak of H5N1 avian flu was detected in Munshiganj, 60 km (40 miles) from Dhaka, while the virus re-emerged in several other districts, livestock officials said
on Sunday.

Nearly 911,000 birds have been culled to fight the virus since March 2007, but it continues to spread and now covers more than two-thirds of the impoverished country of more than
140 million people.

Bird flu has caused losses of about 45 billion Taka ($650 million) to the poultry sector, which generates more than $1.8 billion annually, industry officials said.

No human cases of the virus have been reported in the country.

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