Bird flu strikes again in Myanmar

[Gert van der Hoek]

Bird flu strikes again in Myanmar - FAO

Wed 1 Aug 2007

YANGON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Myanmar found its second bird flu outbreak in July on a farm northwest of the commercial capital Yangon, the U.N. food agency said on Wednesday.

"About 3,800 chickens have been culled as part of the measures to control the situation," Tang Zhengping, country representative of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, told Reuters.

The virus was detected on July 26 on a poultry farm in Letpadan Township, about 80 miles (130 km) northwest of Yangon, he said.

The OIE, the global organisation for animal health, reported an outbreak among chickens in Mon State in southern Myanmar on July 24.

India, which shares a 1,600-km (1,000-mile) border with the former Burma, said this week it had stepped up surveillance to stop poultry smuggling from its neighbour.

The H5N1 strain remains largely a bird virus but experts fear it might mutate into a form that easily passes between people, setting off an influenza pandemic in which millions could die.

The virus is known to have infected at least 319 people worldwide since 2003 and has killed at least 192, according to the World Health Organisation.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?rpc=401&storyId=BKK251810

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Bird flu strikes again in Myanmar - FAO

Aug 2,

Myanmar reports second bird flu outbreak within a week

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar reported Thursday a second outbreak of the bird flu virus in a week after discovering infected fowl on a farm north of Yangon.

The H5N1 virus was detected on a small, privately owned farm in Lepadan, 118 kilometers (74 miles) north of the city last Saturday, said Than Hla, an official at the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department.

"Laboratory tests confirmed Tuesday that at least three ducks and four chickens from the farm in Letpadan were infected with H5N1," Than Hla said.

Nearly 4,000 chickens there have been slaughtered as a precaution and other measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the virus, he said.

The detection came after an outbreak Sunday on two chicken farms in Mon State, 180 kilometers (114 miles) southeast of Yangon. Authorities slaughtered 312 chickens from the farms and the infection has been contained, Than Hla said.

Outbreaks of bird flu on the outskirts of country's largest commercial city, Yangon, occurred in February and April, while the virus was also detected in Bago, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Yangon, in June.

Before those cases, bird flu was found among poultry in March 2006. It has reported no cases of human infection.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_GEN_MYANMAR_BIRD_FLU_ASOL-?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-08-02-01-53-38