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Bird flu vaccine intercepted
THEERAWAT KHAMTHITA
CHIANG RAI : More than 100 bottles of bird flu vaccine, worth six million baht, were seized at Chiang Saen port yesterday.
Customs staff found 120 bottles of 250cc vaccine on a Chinese cargo ship, Hongta, which travelled from China.
The captain denied any knowledge of the vaccine. He said he was asked to ship the packages from China, but did not know the contents.
The customs chief said searches of cargo ships from China would be stepped up. He suspected more orders had been placed for the Chinese version of the bird flu vaccine.
Use of the bird flu vaccine is prohibited in Thailand for fear that it might hurt poultry exports and disrupt the national bird flu control scheme.
Five bird flu outbreaks have occurred since it first surfaced in January 2004. The latest round was reported in Nakhon Sawan and Phichit province in late January.
Earlier this month, the Livestock Development Department declared Thailand free of bird flu after three months passed without any new reports of the virus breaking out.
More than 60 million fowls were culled, or died. Twenty-five people were infected with the virus and 17 of them died.
THEERAWAT KHAMTHITA
CHIANG RAI : More than 100 bottles of bird flu vaccine, worth six million baht, were seized at Chiang Saen port yesterday.
Customs staff found 120 bottles of 250cc vaccine on a Chinese cargo ship, Hongta, which travelled from China.
The captain denied any knowledge of the vaccine. He said he was asked to ship the packages from China, but did not know the contents.
The customs chief said searches of cargo ships from China would be stepped up. He suspected more orders had been placed for the Chinese version of the bird flu vaccine.
Use of the bird flu vaccine is prohibited in Thailand for fear that it might hurt poultry exports and disrupt the national bird flu control scheme.
Five bird flu outbreaks have occurred since it first surfaced in January 2004. The latest round was reported in Nakhon Sawan and Phichit province in late January.
Earlier this month, the Livestock Development Department declared Thailand free of bird flu after three months passed without any new reports of the virus breaking out.
More than 60 million fowls were culled, or died. Twenty-five people were infected with the virus and 17 of them died.
