February 10, 2011

Bird flu hits Myanmar's northwestern region

Two poultry farms in Myanmar's northwestern region of Sagaing has been hit with avian influenza (H5N1), according to local news on Wednesday (Feb 9).

Registering the second occurrence of bird flu during this year, local news said the virulent avian influenza was found in dead chickens in the poultry farms in Tantsle township over last week.

The authorities buried the dead chickens and has banned sale of the poultry in nearby bazaars as well as transport of them from one place to another.

Bird flu H5N1 had hit Myanmar's Sittway, western Rakhine state, in early January this year with 700 three-month-old chickens in a poultry farm dying unusually.

Over 50,000 chickens, suspected of carrying virulent avian influenza, were wiped out following the discovery of the unusual death.

On confirmation that H5N1 recurred in the area, 52,000 fowls and over 1,000 ducks from 75 nearby poultry farms were destroyed in the state's Bumay village-tract as part of the authorities' measures to prevent the spread of the influenza.

The authorities doubted that if it was due to infection by migratory birds or through import of chickens from the border areas, citing the arrival of a number of some American migratory birds and resting in some areas in Bago region's Naunglaypin, Daik Oo and Pyontazar townships during this winter.

The Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department (LBVD) has warned of probable infection from the birds which may carry virus into the country from the cold regions to infect local birds.

Myanmar was first struck by bird flu H5N1 in 2006 and the last in 2010 when the infection was detected in Yangon's Mayangong and Mingaladon townships and northwestern Sagaing region after some chickens died of virulent avian influenza in poultry farms.