"The government with the cooperation of the Food and Agricultural Organization will appoint some 150 veterinaries at the upazila level in the districts, which are prone to bird flu outbreak," Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock of Bangladesh Syed Ataur Rahman was quoted by the New Age, a local newspaper, as saying.
The secretary also announced that the government alerted the Bangladesh Rifles and relevant authorities to the possible smuggling of poultry products into the country from India, which has been fighting bird flu crisis for few weeks.
"We are working closely with the U.N. body and the government also has a plan to meet the donors this week to discuss the situation," Ataur Rahman said about the FAO's concerns over looming bird flu threat on Bangladesh.
The recent outbreak in neighboring Indian districts just across the border has caused fresh alarm for Bangladesh's poultry sector.
Last year, the deadly avian flu was detected in 28 out of 64 districts in Bangladesh, which prompted authorities to cull nearly 355,000 poultry birds in February 2007. The government compensated partially the affected farmers for the losses, according to the newspaper reports.
