DHAKA, May 3: The government has banned sale of chicken at kitchen markets on every Monday to prevent an outbreak of ‘Bird flu’ again in the country, said a senior official of the Health ministry. Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) South already instructed the kitchen market management committee to take action to make “Chicken Free Monday” to prevent ‘Bird flu’ which already affected some poultry traders in Dhaka City market as well as 45 students of Kurigram Nursing Institute.
Prof Mahmudur Rahman, director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) told The Independent on Thursday, “It will help to prevent rapid spreading of bird flu, which came back to the country as well as some to other parts of the world.” IEDCR recently confirmed the presence of the virus, commonly known as ‘Bird flu’ in the capital’s different kitchen markets after three workers were reported positive with H5N1.DCC also instructed the police and law enforcing agencies to restrict the vehicles carrying poultry in Dhaka after Sunday 12 at night to ensure “Chicken Free Monday.”
They also instructed the poultry traders and market management committee to clean the poultry markets by disinfecting, which is very important to seize the virus transmission.
Epidemiologists also suggested steps to improve sanitation of slaughterhouses as it will be difficult to change the tradition of selling live-birds in the country.
Chief health officer of DCC (South) Abdullah-Al-Harun told The Independent, “Chicken Free Monday” will help to prevent spreading of the virus. He added, “We are also instructing all the poultry traders to clean their baskets (khacha) being used to keep chicken.”
He said, a small committee from DCC as well as from IEDCR and Live Stock department will start to monitor the kichen markets whether they are following the instruction or not.
The first human case of getting infected with this virus in Bangladesh was detected in May 2008 after an outbreak in a poultry farm in March 2007.
The high official of DCC also said that the poultry traders are also instructed to gather all the wastages in specific dustbins so that they don’t get mixed up with normal wastages.
Poultry traders are also requested to take the trade license from DCC and the workers who handling chiken at the markets should use masks, hand gloves, approns and gumboots.
Drive to clean Dhaka’s kitchen markets has not started yet, despite health experts’ serious call to disinfect those after H5N1 avian influenza lurched from poultry farms to slaughterhouses.
The detection also prompted health experts to call for a change in what they term ‘dangerous’ practice of selling and slaughtering poultry just anywhere in the market or open spaces without taking any sanitary measures.
Visiting different markets on Thursday, it is found that DCC markets are not disinfected.
Workers have been seen working in filthy environment strewn with chicken giblets and wings in the blood and mud-strained floor.
But the experts are worried at the latest detection as four strains of flu virus - H5N1, H1N1, H3N2 and H9N2 are circulating in the air and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in Aug last year warned of a possible major resurgence of bird flu as a mutant strain of H5N1 virus is spreading in Asia including Bangladesh.
Experts also suggested for a separate room for chicken slaughtering. Slaughterhouses should be isolated from public. Due to lack of bio-security measures such as using solid fences and nets to quarantine infected flocks, and disinfecting footwear, experts say H5N1 is widespread in Bangladesh’s poultry farms.IEDCR that oversees human infections, advises people wash egg shells and suggests consuming well-cooked poultry products.
IEDCR also urged not to litter giblets and dead birds just anywhere and maintain personal hygiene, cough into the crook of elbow and wash hands with soap often.http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:dHAwrRX3MTUJ:theindependentbd.com/paper-edition/frontpage/129-frontpage/107765-govt-bans-sale-of-chicken-in-markets-every-monday.html+Govt+bans+sale+of+chicken+in+markets+every+Monday+independent&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-beta
Drive to clean Dhaka’s kitchen markets has not started yet, despite health experts’ serious call to disinfect those after H5N1 avian influenza lurched from poultry farms to slaughterhouses.
The detection also prompted health experts to call for a change in what they term ‘dangerous’ practice of selling and slaughtering poultry just anywhere in the market or open spaces without taking any sanitary measures.
Visiting different markets on Thursday, it is found that DCC markets are not disinfected.
Workers have been seen working in filthy environment strewn with chicken giblets and wings in the blood and mud-strained floor.
But the experts are worried at the latest detection as four strains of flu virus - H5N1, H1N1, H3N2 and H9N2 are circulating in the air and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in Aug last year warned of a possible major resurgence of bird flu as a mutant strain of H5N1 virus is spreading in Asia including Bangladesh.
Experts also suggested for a separate room for chicken slaughtering. Slaughterhouses should be isolated from public. Due to lack of bio-security measures such as using solid fences and nets to quarantine infected flocks, and disinfecting footwear, experts say H5N1 is widespread in Bangladesh’s poultry farms.IEDCR that oversees human infections, advises people wash egg shells and suggests consuming well-cooked poultry products.
IEDCR also urged not to litter giblets and dead birds just anywhere and maintain personal hygiene, cough into the crook of elbow and wash hands with soap often.http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:dHAwrRX3MTUJ:theindependentbd.com/paper-edition/frontpage/129-frontpage/107765-govt-bans-sale-of-chicken-in-markets-every-monday.html+Govt+bans+sale+of+chicken+in+markets+every+Monday+independent&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-beta
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