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Least prepared to tackle bird flu

PINAKI ROY
The government has no preparatory mechanism for stocking anti-viral vaccine as a precaution to tackle avian influenza, neither for fowl nor for people of the densely populated country.
But most of the countries, where the poultry sector is booming, have
been scrambling for precautions by making stocks of anti-flu vaccine to combat the deadly outbreak of disease. Their mad dash for precautionary measures came against a backdrop of recent news that bird flu occurred in Romania and Turkey that killed more than 60 people in Asia since 1997. Experts fear a flu outbreak in a tropical country like Bangladesh could spell a disaster for the public as well for the poultry sector.
Nonetheless, preparations have been scant thus far. “We are yet to take any steps regarding anti-virus vaccine,” Professor Nazrul Islam, virology expert of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University told The Daily Star on Sunday.
“This vaccine is very sophisticated and expensive that needs to be preserved under certain temperature,” he said.
To make a stock of the vaccine, the government has to create fund and facilities for preservation, he said.
Experts also caution that Bangladesh should check for infected chicks entering the country to protect the poultry sector, adding that efforts to head off the flu require serious government initiatives.
“It will be impossible to fight the flu if the government is not very sincere and watchful. And we should not import chicks from those places where the disease once broke out,” said Dr. Monjur Murshid, a leading animal vaccine expert of the country.
The government banned the import of chicks from 13 different Southeast Asian countries, including neighbouring India, where a low or high pathogenic virus reportedly broke out. Now the poultry farm owners import grand parent (GP) chicks from Europe, which is also now experiencing the flu.
Syed Abu Siddique, the secretary general of the Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association, said the government should take the issue more seriously.
“Our whole poultry sector will crumble down if the virus breaks out in our country,” he said.
An outbreak would be devastating to the economically vibrant and growing poultry sector, whose one lakh poultry farms employ around four million people. Investment in the sector is nearly Tk five to six thousand crore.
Since 2003, bird flu has swept through poultry and wild birds in Asia.
The issue hit headlines again as the outbreak of bird flu was recently confirmed in Romania and Turkey.
BBC news reports that bird flu is principally an avian disease but was first seen in humans in Hong Kong in 1997. Almost all human cases are thought to be contracted from birds, although isolated cases of human-to-human transmission are said to have occurred in Hong Kong and Vietnam. No such cases were confirmed, however.
Here in Bangladesh, experts warn that precautions should be taken while importing foreign chicks.
“We should stop importing chicks as low production is better than destroying the whole sector. We also should keep an eye upon the migratory birds as we don't know whether they would carry the virus or not,” said Abu Siddique.
Meanwhile, the BBC, quoting a UN official, reports that a flu pandemic could happen anytime and kill between 5 -150 million people in the world. David Nabarro, who is charged with co-ordinating responses to bird flu, said a mutation of the virus affecting Asia could trigger new outbreaks.
"It's like a combination of global warming and HIV/Aids 10 times faster than it's running at the moment," Dr Nabarro told the BBC.
The World Health Organisation has warned that millions could die in a global pandemic if this happens.
When asked about the minimum preparation in the country, Dr. Monzur Murshid Khan, said, “The European countries have the ability to control the disease. So, if we want to import the chicks, it is safe to import chicks from Europe as they have a very good protection and management system,” he said.
Meanwhile, the UK has ordered 14.6m doses of anti-viral drug that alleviate symptoms among people affected, but this is enough for only 25 percent of the population. The UK so far has only 2.5m doses, with 800,000 new doses arriving every month.
In 1968, when there was no flu vaccine, the Spanish flu pandemic killed millions around the world.