Dhaka: Avian influenza, commonly called as bird flu, may become epidemic in Bangladesh due to unchecked interface of wild and domestic birds, experts warned at a workshop here on Thursday.

They said bird flu is a global problem, but it can turn into an endemic proportion here for lack of a guideline in farming domestic birds like poultry, which may accelerate the transmission of avian influenza from both wild to domestic birds and domestic birds to wild. 

IUCN Bangladesh Country Office organised the national workshop titled ‘Transmission of Avian Influenza from Wild to Domestic Birds’ at Krishibid Institution Bangladesh.

Prof Nitish Kumar Paul, a health coordinator of the Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD), Bangladesh, of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said avian influenza (H5N1) virus is transmitted by birds, so all should take good care of both domestic and migratory birds.

He warned that once the avian influenza comes into human body, it will become endemic and people will be in danger. 

According to World Health Organization (WHO), most of the avian influenza viruses do not infect humans, but such as A (H5N1) and A (H7N9) have caused serious infections in people. The majority of human cases of A (H5N1) and A (H7N9) infection have been associated with direct or indirect contact with infected live or dead poultry. There is no evidence that the disease can be spread to people through properly cooked food.

IUCN country representative Ishtiaq Uddin Ahmed said if domestic birds anyway transmit avian influenza to wild and migratory birds, there will be an endemic situation.

He suggested announcing a guideline for farming of domestic birds, including poultry and duck, aiming to check any possible influenza virus breakout. 

Birds expert Enam UI Haque, senior scientific officer of Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI) Dr Md Abdus Samad, forest conservator Ashit Ranjan Paul, associate scientist of the ICDDR,B’s Centre of Communicable Diseases Dr Md Ziaur Rahman and IUCN programme officer ABM Sarowar Alam (Dipu), among others, spoke at the discussion.

IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Bangladesh is implementing a project titled ‘Investigation of Wild to Domestic Bird Avian Influenza Transmission: Multi-year Monitoring and Surveillance Programme’ funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). 

The project aims to understand wild bird ecology through bird ringing, interactions of wild and domestic birds and avian influenza transmission from wild to domestic birds.