May 27, 2004

New Bird Flu Outbreak In Thailand's North Province

Hundreds of chickens have died of bird flu at a research farm in the northern Thai province in a new outbreak of the disease that had appeared to be on the wane, an official said Wednesday.

Agriculture Ministry officials have culled about 1,000 chickens at the farm of the Chiang Mai University in Chiang Mai province after being informed about the outbreak by university officials, said Yukol Limlamthong, the director general of Livestock Department.

The farm, which is in an isolated area, has been quarantined. It contained various other avian species, including water fowl, but no symptoms or deaths were recorded among them, Yukol said.

Thai officials said May 14 that the government was all but certain the country was free of bird flu, after the last area to suffer an outbreak was declared safe at the end of a 21-day monitoring period.

However, the latest infection in Chiang Mai is believed to have started on May 22 when about 473 chickens died of bird flu-like symptoms, Yukol said.

The avian influenza virus swept through 10 Asian nations earlier this year, killing or forcing the cull of more than 100 million poultry, including more than 37 million birds in Thailand.

The disease also jumped to people, killing 16 in Vietnam and eight in Thailand.

Vietnam said it was bird flu-free at the end of March, though the World Health Organization warned it was premature to declare the disease under control. Thailand was also about to declare itself free of bird flu, but held off after the WHO warning.