February 17, 2010

Myanmar struck by bird flu

The first outbreak of H5N1 influenza has been confirmed in Myanmar; since the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) declared the country bird flu free in April 2008.

Officials were monitoring Yangon markets and poultry farms for signs of bird flu last week, after an outbreak of the disease was detected at a poultry farm in Mayangone township.

"I want to warn breeders about the lack of symptoms in the most recent case. This time we found H5N1 influenza occurring in chickens that showed no signs of decreased feeding or egg production," said Aung Gyi, deputy general manager of the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department (LBVD).

The LBVD, under the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, tested chickens at a farm in Mayangone's No. 5 ward after several died in suspicious circumstances. Tests showed the chickens had died from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) after being infected with H5N1 influenza, Aung said.

He said the outbreak has been reported to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and OIE and surveillance, epidemiology, bio-security and diagnosis teams are working to ensure there are no further outbreaks.

The department is also implementing a computerised database system for monitoring poultry farms with the collaboration of database specialist and epidemiologist Chris Bartel from the FAO.

The FAO has provided GPS, computers and software and the department is now undertaking a survey of the animal population and population density across the country.