January 26, 2004

Thailand Confirms Bird Flu Spread In Ten Provinces

Thailand said the bird flu ravaging Asia's poultry stocks has been confirmed in 10 of the country's 76 provinces.

"The new cases we've found in these provinces were mostly chickens raised in villages," Agriculture Minister Somsak Thepsutin said Monday.

Earlier Monday, Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan told reporters that three people, including a boy who died, have been confirmed infected. Sudarat said the Agriculture Ministry must seek to control the disease in chickens as soon as possible.

"If we can't control the disease in chickens it will be hard for humans (to control)," she added. "Also, I'm very concerned about the way farmers dispose of their dead chickens, especially when they toss their chickens into open rivers."

Thai authorities on Friday ended weeks of government denials that bird flu had reached Thailand, announcing that bird flu had infected chickens in central Thailand.

Thailand ordered a mass slaughter of chickens and on Sunday brought hundreds of troops and 60 prisoners to join in a cull in Suphanburi province.

Thailand plans to host an international meeting of ministers from bird flu-affected countries and influenza experts on Wednesday to discuss strategies for coping with the disease, Foreign Minister Surakiart said.

Thailand is the world's fourth largest chicken exporter. Two of the country's biggest poultry markets - Japan and the European Union - have imposed bans on Thai chicken along with many other countries.

Thailand's state economic agency said the bird-flu outbreak will "adversely affect" Thai growth in the first quarter of this year, but is still expected to achieve a full-year growth estimate of at least 7%, according to media reports.