Thailand Confirms HN51 Outbreak in Chickens

BANGKOK (XFN-ASIA) - Thailand has confirmed that the H5N1 bird flu virus has been found in chickens in a northern province, in the country's first outbreak of the disease in eight months. 'I can confirm that it's H5N1,' Deputy Agriculture Minister Charan Trinvuthipong told Agence France-Presse. The agriculture authorities were already on high alert, he said, because the disease tends to spread in Thailand during the month of July. 'We have to be very vigilant in July but it's occurred only in one place,' he said. Government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee told reporters that the small outbreak occurred in Pichit province on a farm that had not registered its poultry operations. Pichit has suffered outbreaks before, and officials said safety precautions are already in place. Some 260 chickens had been slaughtered in the area and the movement of poultry was banned within a 10-kilometer radius. Fourteen people have died in Thailand after being infected with the H5N1 virus. http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2006/07/25/afx2901426.html