The first human case of bird flu has been reported in Bangladesh.

Mahmudur Rahman, an official with the country's health ministry Thursday said a child has been diagnosed with the deadly virus. The child has received treatment, and officials say his condition has improved.

Bird flu was first detected in Bangladesh in 2007. In recent months, authorities have slaughtered more than a million chickens, after the virus was found in at least 47 of the country's 64 districts.

Bangladesh's poultry industry is one of the world's largest. The bird flu outbreak has led to the closure of more than 40 percent of the nation's poultry farms, leaving more than half a million people unemployed.

Bird flu was also detected in neighboring India's West Bengal state earlier this year. No human cases have been detected there so far.

According to the World Health Organization, the H5N1 strain has killed at least 241 people worldwide since 2003.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.