July 16, 2004

Surge In Bird-flu Outbreaks In Thailand
 

Thailand revealed a sharp increase in outbreaks of a lethal strain of bird flu today and confirmed it had reached the capital Bangkok.

Agriculture officials revealed that six more provinces had been affected, taking the total to 15, amid fears of a resurgence of the crisis that left 24 people dead across Asia earlier this year.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra sought to play down the crisis, saying outbreaks were appearing only sporadically across the country's 76 provinces.

He said the Government ordered prompt culls when suspected cases were identified, but ruled out any vaccination program because of fears the virus could mutate.

Updated figures from the Livestock Development Department showed that confirmed cases had been reported in 77 districts within 15 provinces.

Most of the new confirmed cases were in central and northern areas of the country.

Meanwhile, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) urged countries in Asia not to cull wild animals since they were not a major factor in the resurgence of the disease.

Mr Thaksin last week ordered the killing of all storks that he believed were behind the latest bird flu outbreaks.

"Killing wild birds will not help to prevent avian influenza outbreaks. To date, there is no scientific evidence that wildlife is the major factor in resurgence of the disease in the region," Juan Lubroth, of the FAO Animal Health Service, said.

Eight people died in Thailand and 16 in Vietnam from the outbreak earlier this year.