Secret burial of BD swine flu victim at home

The body of the ill-fated Bangladeshi expatriate who died of swine flu in Mexico a few days back arrived in the country four days ago and even laid to eternal rest at his village in Tangail but the government is maintaining mysterious silence about the matter.
This was confirmed on condition of anonymity by government officials who handled the matter from arrival of the body to his burial. However, there was not a single word about the arrival of the body from the government officially apparently in a move to avert spread of panic.
The Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque, when contacted, neither confirmed nor denied the arrival of the body. “I was not in the capital and do not know exactly whether the body has arrived or not,” he told this correspondent on Saturday evening.
He, however, said it could not be ascertained whether the death of the man was caused by swine flu or not because he was reportedly afflicted with fever well before swine flu spread in epidemic form.
However, government officials have said no incident of swine flu was reported from any part of the country yet so there is nothing to be worried about.
“The government is fully alert to the situation and has taken all precautionary measures in this regard,” they said.
The government took the measures after news reached Dhaka on April 30 that an expatriate Bangladeshi died of suspected swine flu in Mexico.
As part of precautionary measures, the authorities started testing inbound passengers at the Zia International Airport (ZIA) and at the premier seaport and international airport in Chittagong.
Travelers who come from the affected countries are being screened at ZIA and doctors and officials of the airport have been given training to be able to detect the virus.
Sources said, steps are underway to print leaflets on swine flu preventive measures for distribution among inbound international passengers and people to heighten their alertness. Besides, the government has also decided to carry out fresh test on pigs, the sources said.

Courtesy of The Bangladesh Today