Bird flu forces Bangladesh to cull 20,000 chickens (Reuters)

DHAKA (Reuters) - Nearly 20,000 chickens were culled afterthe H5N1 bird flu virus was detected at a government poultryfarm in the Bangladesh capital, officials said on Tuesday.

The latest infection was at Mirpur, on the outskirts ofDhaka, said Salahuddin Khan, director of the government'slivestock department.

Bird flu was first reported near the capital in March andhas since spread mainly to northern districts, forcingauthorities to kill more than 300,000 chickens.

About 4 million Bangladeshis are directly or indirectlyassociated with poultry farming, but so far there have been nocases of human infection, government and health officials say.

But experts fear the bird flu virus might mutate or combinewith the highly contagious seasonal influenza virus and spark adeadly pandemic which could kill millions of people.

Bird flu has killed more than 210 people in 12 countriessince 2003, the World Health Organization says.

The government's adviser for livestock, C.S. Karim, told anews conference on Tuesday. "There is no cause for immediatepanic ... we are closely monitoring the bird flu situation. Wewill make it mandatory for all poultry farms to register inorder to ensure proper monitoring."

There are around 150,000 poultry farms in Bangladesh, withan annual turnover of $750 million, officials said.

Karim cautioned against getting close to migratory birdsnow flocking the country's marshes, rivers and lakes.

"We have asked all (villagers and bird lovers) not to beclose to the guest birds that fly in every winter, because theymay carry the deadly virus," Karim said.

(Reporting by Ruma Paul, additional reporting by MasudKarim; Editing by Charles Dick)