A high-level meeting of the fisheries and livestock ministry on Wednesday took the decision making the ban effective till March 15.

Officials of the livestock directorate and poultry farm owners attended the meeting chaired by the fisheries and livestock secretary.

Although there hasn't been any report of the Avian flu from anywhere in the country, the meeting said the ban was imposed as a pre-emptive measure.

Bangladesh is a major importer of poultry stocks in South Asia and the decision will seriously affect local production especially farms that depend heavily on supplying chicken to hotels, restaurants and local kitchen markets.

According to the livestock directorate, some 80 poultry farms imported 344,676 pieces of 'layer' and 2,274,902 pieces of 'broiler' chickens last year.

The directorate has already stopped granting permission for import of such poultry stocks since January 16 through an official order.

The meeting decided that commercial farming of chickens must strictly follow all regulations, including aspects of organic security.

"Chicken in Bangladesh is 'absolutely safe' for consumption," a poultry farm owner claimed yesterday.

Chicken, swans and wild ducks are among the carriers of the Avian influenza virus (H5N1), the same virus that causes flu in humans.

Experts say there is no chance of catching the flu through poultry feed as the virus is found only in living organisms.

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) said the Avian flu rarely affects humans, adding that the disease can spread only through direct contact.

During an outbreak in Hong Kong in 1997, six out of 18 cases resulted in death while only one of the 83 cases reported in the Netherlands in 2003 was fatal.

In Vietnam so far, the authorities have declared 14 cases of severe respiratory diseases in Hanoi and 11 people have died. Three were confirmed as Avian flu victims.