Asia on bird flu alert !!

Second Thai outbreak puts Asia on bird flu alert

(BangkokPost.com, Agencies)

United Nations officials are urging Asian nations to be on alert for new bird flu outbreaks as Thailand reported a second H5N1 outbreak in the Northeast.

111 people were already being monitored for possible infection after an outbreak in ducks last week in Phitsanulok, authorities said.

Now, the Livestock Department has confirmed a second outbreak in chickens in the Sri Chiang Mai district of Nong Khai, on the Mekong River across from Laos.

Japan is also investigating a suspected outbreak at a poultry farm in the southwest. If confirmed, it would be the second outbreak this month of the H5N1 bird flu virus, which can be fatal to humans.

The farm, which has about 50,000 birds, is situated in Hyuga in Miyazaki Prefecture, where 10 days ago the government confirmed an H5N1 outbreak - Japan's first such case in three years. Miyazaki, on the southernmost main island of Kyushu, is the country's top breeder of chickens.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Tuesday warned against complacency after fresh flare-ups of bird flu worldwide, as Thailand reported its second outbreak this year.


Five people in Indonesia have died from the virus since the start of 2007, while China, Egypt, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Nigeria and Thailand have all seen a resurgence of the deadly H5N1 strain in poultry and birds this year.

"FAO is concerned about these new flare-ups, demonstrating that the virus continues to persist in Asia as well as other counties," Hiroyuki Konuma, FAO deputy regional representative for Asia and the Pacific, told reporters.

John Riddle, from the FAO office in Rome, urged the world not to drop its guard against the devastating disease.

"It"s a worry not just to the countries but to the international community," he told the AFP news agency. "It is the time to be exceptionally watchful."

The FAO expressed concern that an increased poultry market over the Chinese New Year holiday across much of Asia on Feb 18 could lead to further outbreaks of H5N1, which has killed more than 160 people worldwide since late 2003.

On the other hand, there was a drop in the number of avian influenza outbreaks compared to the same period last year, and a significant improvement over a three-year period.

"In 2004 there was a galloping epidemic. That it not the situation today," said Laurence Gleeson, of the FAO"s emergency centre for transboundary animal diseases.

"We are concerned that there has been this blip, but we are not overly concerned and it is not chaos and panic," he added.

The FAO said it would take "several years" to eradicate H5N1 from the poultry sector, but warned that the only way to ensure the safety of people and birds was for "absolute transparency" in surveillance and reporting.

Experts also warned that government bans on backyard poultry or duck raising could force the trade underground, exacerbating the situation.

And Juan Lubroth, senior officer of the FAO animal health service, urged countries to stay alert, even if they appeared to have outbreaks under control.