DHAKA, March 24 (Reuters) - Workers at a state-run poultry farm near the Bangladesh capital protested on Saturday culling of chickens infected by the H5N1 virus, forcing authorities to call in the army to carry out the slaughter. The farm at Jirani Bazar, 30 km north of Dhaka, is one of six where the avian flu was detected in the past few days, prompting authorities to order mass culling to stop the disease spreading across the densely populated nation. But employees opposed the measure, saying their livelihood was at threat. "We cannot let this burning to go ahead," said Jannatul Ferdous. "If the birds go, we will starve to death," she said. Other workers stood outside the gates of the small farm, chanting slogans: "go away, don't kill the birds." Farm offiical Mahbubur Rashid said troops were called later to complete the culling of birds. Nearly 38,000 poultry birds have been culled in the six infected farms over the last few days after about 12,000 had died from the disease, officials from the livestock ministry said. All poultry in farms and household within one sq-km of the infected farms would be killed, the ministry said. "The government is very much determined to ensure that the deadly virus does not travel farther," a government official said. The H5N1 avian flu virus has not spread to other areas of the country and there was no cause for panic, the government has said. Health experts had expected an outbreak of H5N1 because the country is surrounded by India and Myanmar, which have reported bird flu infections Bangladesh's dense population and large numbers of backyard poultry also increased the risks of outbreaks, experts have said.The government has banned transport of poultry from affected areas, imposed constant monitoring of poultry farms across the country by joint forces led by the army and health checks on people working on the farms.(Additional reporting by Azad Majumder and Masud Karim)
