Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 17, 2025
08:46
Rapid Diagnosis of Avian Influenza Virus in Wild Birds: Use of a Portable rRT-PCR and Freeze-dried Reagents in the Field
Published on: August 2, 2011
15.8K
Avian Influenza Risk Environment: Live Bird Commodity Chains in Chattogram, Bangladesh.
Erling Høg1, Guillaume Fournié2, Md Ahasanul Hoque3
1Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
Frontiers in Veterinary Science
|October 7, 2021
Summary
Behaviors in live bird trade in Bangladesh, like selling sick poultry, increase disease risks. Addressing structural constraints is crucial to mitigate animal and zoonotic disease transmission in these supply chains.
Area of Science:
- Veterinary Public Health
- Zoonotic Disease Epidemiology
- Socio-economics of Animal Trade
Background:
- Live bird commodity chains are critical interfaces for pathogen emergence and transmission.
- Understanding actor behaviors within these chains is essential for disease risk management.
- The context of Chattogram, Bangladesh, presents unique socio-economic and structural factors influencing trade practices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify specific behaviors in live bird commodity chains in Chattogram, Bangladesh, that elevate pathogen emergence and transmission risks.
- To analyze the underlying reasons, including agency and structural constraints, driving these risky behaviors.
- To conceptualize the resulting 'risk environment' shaped by local context and actor interactions.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative analysis of behaviors within live bird commodity chains.
- Examination of the interplay between actor agency (existential and pragmatic) and structural constraints.
- Focus on concepts such as 'contact zones,' 'entanglement,' 'patron-client relationships,' and 'precarious circumstances'.
Main Results:
- Identified key risky behaviors: nature of poultry trade, value appropriation, and selling sick/infected birds.
- Demonstrated that structural constraints (e.g., precarious circumstances) significantly influence actor decisions and reinforce risky practices.
- Highlighted how patron-client relationships and entanglement within the trade contribute to a localized 'risk environment'.
Conclusions:
- The Bangladeshi live bird trade context creates a specific 'risk environment' due to the interplay of agency and structural limitations.
- Individual agency is often constrained by broader structural factors, perpetuating occupational practices that increase disease risk.
- Effective mitigation of animal and zoonotic disease risks requires addressing these deep-rooted structural constraints within live animal commodity chains.
