March 6, 2007

New bird flu outbreak in poultry in Laos

A fresh outbreak of bird flu in poultry has been discovered in Laos, a newspaper reported Monday (Mar 5), just one day after a woman believed to be the country's second bird flu victim died.

More than 1,200 chickens died in the southern province of Champassak in mid-February, said a report on the website of the English-language Vientiane Times. After specimens from the birds tested positive for the virulent H5N1 virus on Feb 24, about 1,000 other chickens in the area were culled, it said.

To keep the virus in check, the authorities have set a 5-kilometre surveillance zone around nearby villages, it added, citing provincial health workers.

The outbreak occurred several hundred kilometres from last month's occurrence in the capital district Vientiane, which was the country's first since July. Champassak previously had a bird flu outbreak in 2004.