The strain of bird flu deadly to humans was detected at a state-run poultry farm near the Bangladeshi capital where workers recently slaughtered about 30,000 chickens, the government said Friday. Authorities responded to the discovery by slaughtering about 8,000 chickens at five privately operated farms near Dhaka on Friday as a precautionary measure, The Associated Press reported. «We have no proof that those 8,000 chickens are infected,» the official, who led the operation, told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, in line with official policy. Laboratory tests in Bangladesh and Thailand confirmed that a poultry farm at Savar, which is run by the state-owned Biman Bangladesh Airlines, was infected by the H5N1 virus, the government Press Information Department said in a statement Friday. Authorities recently culled all 30,000 chickens at the farm after many died of a mysterious disease. «The results showed the existence of influenza virus of the H5N1 variety,» the statement said.
