DHAKA, June 18 (Reuters) - Bird flu has spread to another district in Bangladesh, forcing authorities to cull 7,000 chickens, officials said on Monday. The infected chickens were buried after the H5N1 strain of bird flu was detected on two farms in Jaipurhat district, 300 km (188 miles) northwest of the capital, Dhaka. With the latest cull, about 172,000 chickens have now been slaughtered and more than 1.6 million eggs destroyed on 68 farms in 14 districts since the virus was first detected near Dhaka in March. There have been no reported cases of human infection. More than 110,000 farms have been inspected and 133 million chickens vaccinated since the outbreak emerged, a fisheries and livestock ministry statement said. Bangladesh has more than 125,000 poultry firms producing 250 million broilers and six billion eggs annually. About four million Bangladeshis are directly or indirectly associated with poultry farming.
