March 16, 2004

Thai Chicken Consumption Recovering

A Suan Dusit poll conducted in Thailand showed that almost nine out of 10 residents in Bangkok and the surrounding areas have eaten chicken during the bird flu outbreak.

The poll, carried out on Sunday and yesterday, interviewed 1,324 people.

A total of 89.1 per cent of the respondents said that despite the bird-flu crisis, they were not afraid to eat well-cooked chicken that was sold in hygienic conditions.

But 10.8 per cent of respondents said that uncertainty as to whether the authorities had bird flu under control, and the chance that there may be another outbreak, had kept them from eating chicken.

The poll found that 60.2 per cent of respondents were confident of the safety of chicken they ate, while 37.3 per cent said they were not so confident, and 2.3 per cent said they had no confidence at all.

The same survey also touched on reactions to the recent recurrence of bird flu.

Of the respondents, 58.4 per cent said they were confident matters would be brought completely under control, while 27.1 per cent said they believed the recurrence of the virus would not result in as much panic as the original outbreak.

Communicable Disease Control Department director-general, Dr Jaran Trinwuthipong, said yesterday that no additional bird-flu cases had been reported.