DHAKA, March 30 (Xinhua) -- With the rise of temperature, bird flu that battered the growing poultry industry in Bangladesh now started to ease off, an expert of the Livestock Department said Sunday.

    Sujas Kanti Bhoumik, a technical officer of the Livestock Department, told Xinhua that the situation of bird flu is gradually improving with the rise of temperature.

    An official at the Bird Flu Control Room told Xinhua that some 1,536,542 chickens, ducks and pigeons have been culled so far till Saturday since the virus broke out in March last year.

    The official said the disease affected 486 commercial farms and42 private farms in 47 districts out of 64 districts in the country.

    The government agencies are campaigning through electronic media and SMS services that there is no danger of eating chickens and eggs if cooked and boiled at 70 degree Celsius.

    Physicians said there is no reason for the people to be panic about the virus as there is no human infection case in Bangladesh.

    People who were earlier panic at the spreading of virus and stopped eating chickens and eggs are now changing their mindset. Many households started eating well cooked chickens and eggs.

    The Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association (BPLA) said the deadly virus led to the closure of more than 50 percent of the farms, turning nearly five million people jobless. The BPIA said about 100 billion taka (about 1.43 billion US dollars) were invested in the poultry sector.