DHAKA, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Bird flu has spread to another district in Bangladesh, taking the number of affected districts to 39, officials said on Thursday, as the government increased compensation to farmers for culled poultry in an effort to control the outbreak. "We are trying to keep the situation under control. We have taken all-out measures to prevent spread of the avian influenza virus," Manik Lal Samaddar, a senior livestock and fisheries ministry official, told reporters. He said the interim government had raised the amount of compensation for poultry farmers to encourage them to report and kill sick birds. The affected farmer will now receive 95 taka ($1.39) instead of 80 taka ($1.17) for a chicken, of local variety, and 20 taka instead of 15 taka for a chick. Officials say the government is also considering scrapping restrictions that offer farmers compensation for up to 5,000 culled chickens only. Bird flu was first detected in Bangladesh at a poultry farm near the capital last March, but so far has not infected humans in the densely populated nation of more than 140 million people. The virus has spread to more than half the South Asian country's 64 districts partly due to a lack of awareness.Health workers have been seen burying dead birds without any protective gear, covering their face only with handkerchiefs. Touching or eating sick poultry can lead to infection by the H5N1 virus that has killed more than 220 people globally since late 2003. The virus has forced nearly half a million birds to be culled acorss the country. A poultry farmer dumped around 6,000 dead chickens at a canal near his farm in the port city of Chittagong, local officials said. Dead crows were also found floating in water. (Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Katie Nguyen)
Ducks are displayed at a market in Jakarta February 6, 2008. A 29-year old Indonesian woman has died of bird flu, bringing the death toll from the virus in the Southeast ...
