DHAKA, March 26 (Reuters) - There has been no human case of bird flu in Bangladesh, the health ministry said on Monday, after an outbreak of the H5N1 virus in nine poultry farms near the capital set off a scare in the densely populated country. Blood samples of a number of workers at the farms, where the deadly virus was confirmed among chickens last week, tested negative for the deadly virus, Health Secretary Ehsan Ul Fattah told Reuters. The test was carried out at a local laboratory. Bangladesh has already culled some 50,000 chickens since confirming the outbreak in the farms near the capital Dhaka and northern Jamalpur district. "There is no human infection of the avian flu," Fattah said. He said the country had sufficient stocks of flu drug Tamiflu and farm workers as well people living in nearby areas were being monitored closely. The health ministry urged the media not to create panic after local newspapers and residents reported more chickens had become ill or had died, although not on a large scale. At least 170 people have died of bird flu in 60 countries, mostly in Asia since 2003, media and other reports said. Health experts fear the virus could trigger a pandemic if it mutates to form a strain that can transmit between humans.
