March 11, 2004

Thailand To Investigate New Bird Flu Reports

Just days after Thailand declared itself bird flu free, newspaper reports of possible new bird flu outbreaks have panicked the poultry industry.
 
Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchob said that he had not received any official notice of new cases but had ordered the Livestock Department to investigate.
 
Newin didn't rule out possible new outbreaks, saying "it wouldn't be strange, because every area is still being monitored, so there still could be a chance."
 
Monday, Livestock Department Director-General Yukol Limlamthong declared that Thailand was free of bird flu because no active cases had been reported in poultry since Feb. 25.
 
Yukol said close observation of previously infected areas would continue until March 17, and that farmers could resume raising chickens next month.
 
Wednesday, the newspapers Prachachat Turakij and Thai Rath said bird flu may have reappeared, citing laboratory tests and farmers' accounts.
 
Prachachat Turakij said a Feb. 26 test report showed that samples from the northern province of Chiang Rai were positive for an unspecified type of bird flu.
 
Thai Rath reported that a farmer in the central province of Chachoengsao culled his 200,000 chickens after they started dying Feb. 29. It quoted an official in the district as saying that test results on samples weren't yet known.
 
The government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra denied for weeks that bird flu was spreading in the country before acknowledging an outbreak on Jan. 23. The disease has killed at least seven people in Thailand who had close contact with chickens and devastated the country's poultry industry.
 
Critics said government attempts to cover up the disease prevented people from protecting themselves. The government said the delay in announcing the disease was the result of bureaucratic screw-ups.