Bird flu

[Bit Beefy]

Thailand declares itself free of bird flu

Thailand Says It's Free of Bird Flu

BANGKOK: - Thailand declared itself free of bird flu Monday and announced that farmers will resume breeding chickens next month.

No areas of Thailand have had active cases of bird flu in poultry since Feb. 25, more than a month since the country's first case was reported, said Yukol Limlamthong, director-general of the ministry's Livestock Department of the Agriculture Ministry.

Yukol said his office had reported its findings to the World Organization for Animal Health, better known by its French acronym OIE. He said the OIE allows the breeding of new chicken stocks three weeks after no new cases have been found, but the ministry decided to wait until April to ensure there are no new outbreaks.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and other experts had warned the disease may not be purged from the Asian region for at least a year. Thailand will continue close observation of previously infected areas until March 17 and an OIE official is expected to inspect breeding areas later this month, Yukol said.

Thailand announced Jan. 23 that bird flu had been discovered in the country, where the disease has killed seven people who had close contact with poultry.

The virus has killed or forced the slaughter of more than 100 million chickens or other fowl in Asia, where outbreaks have been reported in 10 countries and territories. Other than Thailand, the disease has jumped to humans only in Vietnam, killing 15 people.

--AP 2004-03-09

[Guest]

not so fast, typical of thai style....

Chiang Rai outbreak confirmed
Upsets plan to declare country disease free

Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchob's plan to declare Thailand free of bird flu by early next week has collapsed after the discovery of an outbreak in Chiang Rai was confirmed.

The minister revealed the outbreak yesterday, two weeks after the bird flu was detected in the province.

Mr Newin was forced into the confirmation after a Thai-language newspaper published a test result on bird flu-infected chicken from Chiang Rai.

The lab result was dated Feb 26, a day after the government lifted all red alert zones.

An affected poultry farmer said he repeatedly told the Livestock Department about the outbreak, but was ignored.

Mr Newin claimed the department tested a chicken carcass from an infected farm earlier, but the result was negative.

``Unconvinced, the poultry farmer sent the chicken carcass to Kasetsart University's lab, which confirmed the fowl was infected with H5N1 virus strain of bird flu on Feb 26,'' said Mr Newin.

``Livestock officials immediately culled the chickens within a one kilometre radius of the farm. The operation ended on March 2 and the area is now under 21-day surveillance.''

If no there were no more cases the area would be downgraded to a green zone on March 23, he said.

Mr Newin said officials were also testing suspicious chicken carcasses from Chachoengsao's Phanom Sarakham district. Mr Newin said on Monday that with no more reports of mass chicken deaths since the mass culling operation ended on Feb 25, the country could be declared bird-flu free under International Organisation for Animal Health rules on Mar 16, if no new case of bird flu emerged. The Chiang Rai outbreak means a change of plan, with the ministry declaring bird flu-free zones area by area, rather than for the whole country.

[Guest]

Bird flu persists in Thailand, 11 provinces affected

BANGKOK: -- Bird flu is stubbornly hanging on in Thailand, officials said on Sunday, dashing hopes that the country would soon be free of the epidemic that has killed seven Thais and led to the culling of millions of chickens.

Thailand, the world's fourth-largest poultry producer and one of the worst-hit countries, had hoped to declare the epidemic over by next week. But officials now say that may not happen until April.

"We've found that chickens have still died in certain areas," Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchob told reporters, adding that tens of thousands of birds had been culled in the 11 affected provinces since early March.

"We may not be able to declare the epidemic over next week," Newin said. "We expect all of the areas to become green zones in April if nothing wrong happens".

Thailand, which has culled about 35 million chickens to prevent the spread of the deadly H5N1 avian influenza strain, is eager to revive its shattered poultry industry and resume annual exports worth $1.5 billion.

Newin said exports of cooked chicken could resume next week to Japan, the biggest buyer of Thai poultry.

Previous outbreaks of bird flu in Europe and the United States took six months to bring to heel and the OIE, the world animal health body, has cautioned against excessive optimism in Asia, saying H5N1 probably would be around for months.

At the height of the outbreak in Thailand, authorities declared 400 "red zones" in 42 of its 76 provinces. An area must go 21 days without a new outbreak before it can be downgraded to an uninfected "green zone".

Newin said 27 provinces were declared bird flu free on Saturday, but it would be another 69 days before farmers could start restocking their farms.

Despite the disease appearing to be on the retreat, the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organisation has urged affected nations not to restock poultry farms too quickly to prevent the disease from flaring up again.

Bird flu spread across much of Asia over the last few months, killing at least 15 people in Vietnam and seven in Thailand, and forcing authorities to slaughter more than 100 million birds to halt the advance of the epidemic.

Vietnam said last week its outbreaks had been contained and it planned to begin restocking farms.

--Reuters 2004-03-13