DHAKA - MORE than 1,800 chickens have been culled in southeastern Bangladesh this week after avian flu was detected on a farm, an official said on Tuesday.

Veterinary surgeon Rupen Chakma, of the Cox's Bazar livestock office, told AFP that tests were conducted after a farmer reported sudden chicken deaths.

'We took samples and tests confirmed the presence of the H5N1 strain of flu and so the chickens were all culled,' he said.

Bangladesh was hit by bird flu in February 2007 with more than one million birds slaughtered.

The last major outbreak was in November when 10,000 birds were culled in a two-month period, with smaller outbreaks detected earlier this year.

Bangladesh's poultry industry is one of the world's largest, producing 220 million chickens and 37 million ducks annually.

The country reported its first confirmed human case of bird flu in May last year, but the government said the 16-month-old baby who contracted the virus recovered. -- AFP