Bird flu strikes farm in southwestern Bangladesh

DHAKA, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Health and veterinary workers in Bangladesh have culled nearly 1,700 chickens after bird flu was confirmed at a poultry farm in the country's south-west, officials said on Thursday.

The latest infection was reported in Jessore, 275 km (170 miles) from the capital Dhaka, a livestock ministry official said.

"After the confirmation of bird flu, authorities culled 1,693 chickens at the affected farm," the official said. More fowl were also culled in the southern coastal district Barishal after detection of the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

"Veterinary workers culled nearly 2,000 chickens, ducks and birds in a one-kilometre area around the affected backyard poultry," said the official of the outbreak in Barishal.

Suspected outbreaks have also reported at a farm in northwestern Rajshahi district and another farm in northern Rangpur district, where the virus has been confirmed in fowl previously.

The H5N1 virus was first reported near the capital in March last year and has since spread to 23 of Bangladesh's 64 districts, forcing authorities to kill more than 300,000 chickens.

So far there have been no cases of human infection in the densely populated country, government officials say.

But experts fear the bird flu virus might mutate or combine with the highly contagious seasonal influenza virus and spark a pandemic that could kill millions of people.

There have been 217 human deaths globally from the H5N1 strain and 350 confirmed cases of infection since 2003, World Health Organisation figures show.

In neighbouring India, veterinary workers began killing thousands of chickens in West Bengal state on Wednesday following what the WHO said was the worst outbreak of bird flu in the country.

Officials said it could take up to a week to cull about 350,000 birds in three districts of West Bengal. (Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by David Fogarty)