Govt to vaccinate poultry birds
Says livestock minister
The government has decided to 'experimentally' vaccinate poultry birds to protect the poultry industry from avian influenza virus, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Md Abdul Latif Biswas said yesterday.
“The government has decided to vaccinate the poultry birds before they die. An 8-member expert team has been formed in this regard to carry out the vaccination process,” he said.
The minister was addressing as chief guest a seminar titled 'Poultry industries in crises: Immediate measures' organised by Bangladesh Poultry Industries Coordination Committee (BPICC) at Cirdap auditorium in the capital.
Biswas said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the national advisory committee have approved the decision to introduce the vaccination programme.
“Alongside vaccinating the birds, bio-security must be maintained,” he said, adding that the farms that fail to maintain this must be shut down.
He also asked the livestock department and the officials concerned to take immediate measures to bring all the poultry farms scattered across the country under a single registration process in a bid to regulate their operations.
Former Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Mohammad Farashuddin emphasised on lobbying the government to introduce poultry insurance with a special fund to help protect the poultry industry from imminent devastation.
BPICC Convener Moshiur Rahman, while presenting a keynote paper, urged the government to keep the poultry sector under tax exemption, introduce vaccines for birds, and stop intervention in the sector by foreign companies
CPD senior research fellow Dr Khobdaker Golam Moazzem and journalist Zahiduzzaman Faruk also spoke.
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