Control room set up, mobile labs suggested

Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) yesterday set up a control room on its premises to receive information on the spread of avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu.
The DCC high-ups at an emergency meeting made the decision of setting up the control room on the first floor of the city corporation building.
DCC veterinary officer Dr Azmat will be in charge of it.
The city corporation will provide special containers to 50 kitchen markets in the capital for keeping the dead fowls and the leftovers in those. Those will be buried in the Matuail landfill.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa), an environmental organisation, called upon the government to make arrangement for mobile labs and increase the number of laboratories for detecting the virus across the country to prevent the spread of the life-threatening disease.
"More laboratories for detecting the deadly virus should be set up across the country,” said Bapa President Prof Muzaffer Ahmad, while speaking at a press conference in the capital.
He said the government should make arrangement for mobile labs so the fowls can be examined easily.
Muzaffer said the government should conduct campaigns round-the-year to create awareness among people.
The authorities concerned don't have the facility of taking preventive measures if bird flue infects humans, he added.
Dr M Abdul Matin said a separate ward for providing treatment for the disease should be set up in every hospital adding that doctors and nurses need to be trained properly for that.
The Bapa leaders also expressed resentment over the poor measures taken by the government for combating bird flu and said the authorities concerned are not performing their tasks as per the preparedness manual formulated by the government.