The first human outbreak of the highly pathogenic (HP) H5N1 subtype occurred in Hong Kong in 1997 [4, 9] . Since then, surveillance efforts to detect the HP H5N1-subtype virus in birds have increased in Asia. HP H5N1 has been detected in animals in Bangladesh, and in the nearby countries of Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Thailand. Human infections with HP H5N1 have been reported in Bangladesh and Myanmar (http:// www.oie.int/eng/info_ev/en_AI_avianinfluenza.htm). As of February 24, 2011, there have been 384 reported outbreaks of HP H5N1 subtype at either backyard or commercial farms in 49 of the 64 districts of Bangladesh [10] .