July 19, 2004

 

 

Thais May Lift Chicken Immunisation Ban

 

The Thai government scheduled a meeting on Sunday to explore lifting the Agricultural Ministry's ban against inoculating chickens for the bird flu virus, reports said Sunday.

 

Veterinarians, poultry experts, and Chinese livestock officials are expected to attend the meeting.

 

The Agricultural Ministry plans to experiment on a bird flu vaccine to be conducted by a team of specialists working in the field of infectious diseases.

 

Agricultural minister Somsak Thepsuthin said the ban on vaccination will stay in place until the government has a chance to weigh all its options.

 

"I am trying to get all the answers before finalising my decision on vaccinations," Somsak was quoted as saying by The Nation newspaper. "The government has to ensure safety for all procedures relating to vaccinations."

 

The Livestock Development Department opposes the experimentation, saying vaccination carries potential risks to public health and is unlikely to eradicate the disease.

 

The department said the vaccination could trigger the virus to mutate, spread to humans, and cause a global pandemic. The meeting also plans to address guidelines for vaccination studies being carried out at several research institutions.

 

The meeting comes as Thai officials reported a new outbreak of the avian flu virus in 13 of Thailand's 76 provinces over the last several weeks.

 

Around 100,000 fowl have been culled or died in the past two weeks since bird flu re-emerged in Thailand, the world's fourth largest exporter of chickens last year.

 

Vietnam has also reported an outbreak of the lethal virus in a province in the southern part of the country.

 

The World Health Organisation warned in a statement Friday the new outbreak of the deadly bird flu virus in Asia required tough precautions against the emergence of a new strain that could sweep through the human population.

 

While WHO said the outbreaks so far had remained restricted to poultry populations, they also increased the chances of the virus mutating to a new strain that could infect humans and cause a global pandemic.