July 25, 2006

Chickens in northern Thailand suspected to have died from H5N1

It is likely that a group of chickens in northern Thailand that died last week from bird flu carried the H5N1 type of the virus, a Thai agricultural official said Monday (Jul 24).

Officials found bird flu when they conducted tests on the birds after 31 chickens died in Phichit province's Bangmunnak district, said Nirandorn Auengtrakulsuk, head of the Agriculture Ministry's Disease Control Department.

Initial findings could not determine whether it was the more virulent H5N1 type of the virus, or the more common, less deadly H5N2 type, he said. But the number of deaths among the chickens indicated it was probably H5N1.

If confirmed, the cases would be the first found in Thai poultry in more than eight months.