July 13, 2006

Dead chickens in Thailand test negative for bird flu

Tests on more than 48,000 dead chickens during the past six weeks proved negative for the bird flu virus, Thailand' Department of Livestock Development said Thursday (Jul 13).

The death of those birds is not related to bird flu, Nirundorn Aungtragoolsuk, the department's head of disease control said.

His comments followed a report earlier Thursday by Matichon newspaper that chickens in eight Thai provinces had died of unknown causes during Jul 3-6.

The paper quoted an unnamed official at Department of Livestock Development as saying almost all of the dead birds were locally raised roosters. The affected areas are mainly in northern and north-eastern parts of Thailand, the paper said.

Nirundorn said the tests have been completed in 90 percent of affected areas in central Thailand and 70 percent of affected areas in the northern and north-eastern provinces.

He expects the department to complete the tests in the remaining locations by the end of July.

Thailand has invited EU officials to conduct inspections in Thailand after the EU extended its ban on Thai poultry. Thailand said it has controlled the disease and has been free of outbreaks for more than 200 days, a period longer than the 90 days required by the World Organisation for Animal Health for a country to be declared free of bird flu.