April 14, 2006

 

Myanmar claims bird flu outbreak under control

 

 

Bird flu in Myanmar has been brought under control, and authorities will lift restrictions in two affected regions by the end of the month, a livestock official said Wednesday (Apr 12).

 

The announcement from Myanmar's Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department came two days after U.N. experts said the situation in the impoverished southeast Asian country was more serious than originally thought.

 

Dr Than Tun, Director of the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department, said "the situation seemed serious because of several outbreaks around Mar 24-28, but the situation is under control now." He said several areas have been free from infection for one or two weeks.

 

Authorities confirmed the bird flu outbreak in the central Mandalay and Sagaing regions on Mar 13.

 

A report by a UN Food and Agriculture Organization expert who inspected the areas noted that "the last date of bird flu infection and culling (in Mandalay) was April 5 and the disease has been brought under control," said a livestock department announcement Wednesday.

 

It said that the FAO expert, identified as Dr Prasat, inspected the regions from Mar 28 to Apr 10, and that restrictions in Mandalay and Sagaing would be lifted by the end of April.

 

As of Tuesday, authorities have culled a total of 326,884 chickens and 317,305 quails, and destroyed 175,338 chicken and quail eggs, it said.

 

On Monday in Bangkok, He Changchui, the FAO's regional representative, said authorities initially believed the deadly H5N1 virus was limited to two outbreaks.

 

"The situation there was more serious than we imagined," he told a news conference in Bangkok. "Up to now, there are over 100 outbreaks."

 

The WHO is to send a team to inspect the bird flu situation there at the end of this month.