"The overall avian influenza situation in Bangladesh has stabilized with significantly less outbreaks, said the World Bank on Thursday. However, the funding agency said Bangladesh remains a high-risk country for avian influenza outbreak.... With the detection of first human case of avian influenza in May 2008, Bangladesh has moved into the 'Pandemic Alert Stage,' said the Bank...." [Xinhua/Factiva]

UNB adds that "...AI has posed a serious socioeconomic threat to the poultry industry, potentially affecting about 4-5 million poultry employees, most of whom depend almost exclusively on poultry for their livelihood....

Avian Influenza Preparedness and Response Project, co-financed by the World Bank and the Avian and Human Influenza Trust Fund (AHI TF), started its operation in October 2007. The World Bank provided a $16 million concessionary credit for the project implementation, while AHI TF provided $2 million as grants...." [United News of Bangladesh/Factiva]