January 19, 2004

 

 

Thailand Confirms No Bird Flu

 

The Thai Broiler Processing Exporters Association confirmed late Friday that no chickens on Thai farms were found to be infected with bird flu.

 

"Based on random tests and 100% testing (at farms) in some cases, we found no chickens infected with bird flu," the association's president, Anan Sirimongkolkasem, told a press conference.

 

Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchob said earlier Friday that, as of now, government authorities have discovered 29,746 sick chickens and had killed 847,077 in five provinces.

 

Earlier Friday, Yukol Limlamthong, director general of the Ministry of Agriculture's Department of Livestock Development, reiterated that fowl cholera and infectious bronchitis were the causes of death.

 

This week, some farmers and local media reported that a lot of chickens on some Thai farms had died from an alleged outbreak of bird flu, which has ravaged poultry farms elsewhere in Asia, including Vietnam, South Korea and Japan.

 

However, Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said lab tests show the chickens had died of cholera and respiratory illness, which won't spread from chickens to humans. He also confirmed that Thai chickens are safe for human consumption.

 

"We are 100% confident of the results of the testing by the Department of Livestock Development (which prove that the chickens weren't killed by bird flu)," Anan said.

 

The recent deaths of the chickens, however, could result in lower exports, Anan said.

 

The Department of Livestock Development introduced measures including conducting bird flu spot checks on farms nationwide and prohibiting the transporting of chickens to prevent the spread of the diseases. Also, the department prohibited the slaughtering of chickens in areas 60 kilometers from the infected farms within 90 days.

 

Thailand is forecast to produce around 1.1 billion chickens in 2004, or around 1.85 million metric tons. Around 60% of the chicken produced will be consumed locally, while the remainder will be exported, according to the association.

 

Following the deaths of the chickens, the chick population is expected to fall to 20 million chicks a week, from around 22 million to 24 million chicks a week previously, Anan said.

 

"We will lose some chickens, so expected exports this year could be lower from our original target. However, prices will be higher following increased demand," Anan said, adding that major buyers Japan and South Korea have to kill their locally produced chicken due to outbreaks of bird flu and need to import more from Thailand.

 

The association earlier targeted exports of 630,000 tons of chicken worth 70 billion baht ($1=THB39.016) in 2004, Anan said.

 

Last year, Thailand, one of the world's top five chicken exporters, shipped 540,000 tons of chicken valued around THB50 billion, the latest figure from the association showed.