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Bird flu fear fails to dampen chicken prices, consumption

SYED TASHFIN CHOWDHURY
The consumption of chicken in Dhaka remained almost unaffected despite a fear of avian flu, which is spreading fast in a number of Asian and European countries.
Most city dwellers have little idea about the disease while the government officials ruled out serious threat of bird flu outbreak in the country.
The current outbreak of Avian Influenza A (H5N1) affected countries including Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, South Korea, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Russia, Turkey, Romania and Vietnam.
According to World Health Organization (WHO), wild birds carry the virus in their intestines without being affected but the virus, quite contagious in nature, can infect domesticated birds like chickens and ducks.
The flu has proved fatal to animals, causing death in most cases. There is always a risk for human beings, who are in direct contact with infected birds or surfaces that have been contaminated with excretions from infected birds. The latest outbreak in Asia and Europe also involves human infections. But despite the panic in most affected countries, Dhaka City dwellers have little idea about it.
“I have heard about the disease but have no idea about its symptoms and the ways it can affect a human being,” said Senjuti Rashid, a housewife.
“It is possibly a serious fever that birds acquire after flying in the cold weather for too long,” said Fahim Raza, a student of Class VIII.
Some city dwellers are aware of the disease but they believe it cannot affect them.
“I have learnt about the disease from a BBC report but I do not think the situation is something that the citizens of Dhaka need to worry about,” said Tanvir Ahmed, a student of a private university.
Ahmed said there is little fear of such outbreaks in Bangladesh. He pointed out that the possibility of an outbreak in Bangladesh is slimmer now, as the government has banned the import of birds from as many as 18 Asian and European countries.
“We still have no reports of avian flu outbreak in the country
and we have taken necessary steps to prevent the occurrence of such a crisis,” said an official of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock.
But the ban on the import of poultry birds is causing price hike in the domestic market, according to traders and consumers.
“Earlier, Bangladesh imported around 2 million parent and 25,000 grandparent chicken stock from Britain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, USA, Canada and some other countries. But with the import ban, this number has declined significantly,” said a trader.
“Price of broiler chicken rose from Tk 70 to Tk 85 per kg at the beginning of this month,” said Mamun Hasan, a poultry seller at the Karwan Bazar kitchen market.
Explaining the reason, another poultry seller at Malibagh kitchen market said: “Most hatchery owners are increasing the prices as they know that there will now be a high demand for poultry from local producers.”
Besides, the price of local poultry has also risen by Tk 10 to 30 per piece.
Some chicken traders however speculated that the price may not
increase further.
“The price hike is largely due to local producers' bid to make extra profit. If the prices go up further, then the overall consumption of chicken may fall, causing a huge loss to the producers,” said Kazimuddin, a chicken trader.
But despite all these factors the business of chicken in the city still remains unaffected.
Mahbuba Khanam, a housewife in Rampura, said they have not cut the household's chicken consumption despite the recent price hike. “But if the price further goes up, I may have to reduce consumption.”
Officials of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock are hopeful that the outbreak will not pose as a serious threat to the country.
“We still do not have any stock of anti-bird flu vaccine or drug, but we are trying to collect some,” said a senior official of the ministry.
Meanwhile, Roche, a multinational company in Bangladesh has decided to produce a drug against avian flu within the next three months.