Thailand declares Bangkok, one third of country disaster zone to fight bird flu

[MHSC]

AFX News Limited

Thailand declares Bangkok, one third of country disaster zone to fight bird flu

08.08.2006, 06:32 AM

http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2006/08/08/afx2933577.html

BANGKOK (XFN-ASIA) - Thailand has declared more than one third of the country, including Bangkok, a disaster zone as a precaution to help local officials battle bird flu, officials said. government will test chickens within five kilometers of an outbreak to check the spread of the deadly H5N1 virus.

The cabinet also approved the creation of 'death squads' tasked with immediately killing any infected chickens, as well as all poultry within a one-kilometer radius of any future outbreaks.

'The cabinet today approved a declaration naming 29 provinces as disaster areas so that the government can carry out aggressive, offensive measures to clean up the bird flu outbreak,' government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee told reporters.

Most of the provinces are in central and northeastern Thailand.

Surapong said the declaration will make it easier for government to provide compensation to farmers whose birds must be killed.

Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said the government will test chickens within five kilometers of an outbreak to check the spread of the deadly H5N1 virus.

Four new mobile labs will be deployed across northern and central Thailand to test for the disease.

The government also issued strict safety measures for another 30 provinces, requiring vehicles and equipment to be disinfected before travelling between farms.

Thailand has slaughtered 300,000 birds since two bird flu outbreaks were detected last month. Two people have died of the disease in the last two weeks, after nearly eight months with no sign of the virus.

The government has approved 65 mln baht to compensate farmers whose birds were killed.

Thailand has suffered 24 human cases of bird flu, including 16 fatalities, since the disease was first detected in the country in early 2004.

(1 usd = 37.69 baht)

bc/ask/gs/sm/swp

[MHSC]

Re: Thailand declares Bangkok, one third of country disaster zone to fight bird flu

Thais mount house-to-house virus hunt

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_d...d_str=20060808
Thailand has began a weeklong campaign to try to check every home in 29 provinces, including Bangkok's suburbs, in a bid to halt a resurging bird flu virus that has killed two people in the last three weeks.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Thailand has began a weeklong campaign to try to check every home in 29 provinces, including Bangkok's suburbs, in a bid to halt a resurging bird flu virus that has killed two people in the last three weeks.

Hundreds of thousands of volunteers are to scour backyards for sick or dead chickens and educate people about the H5N1 virus, which re-emerged last month after an eight-month lull.


If any unexplained bird deaths are found, all poultry within a one kilometer radius will be culled immediately, Nirandorn Uangtrakulsook of the Agriculture Ministry's Livestock Department said Monday.


More than one-third of Thailand's 76 provinces have been declared bird flu risk zones, though experts have confirmed H5N1 in poultry in only two northern provinces - Pichit in the north and Nakhon Phanom in the northeast.


But health officials said at the weekend that a 27-year-old man who died in the central province of Uthai Thani appeared to have contracted the virus while burying sick chickens without wearing protective clothing.


That would make him the country's second victim within two weeks.


Other people in central and northern provinces remain under observation after showing flu-like symptoms.


The virus, which scientists fear could mutate into a form that jumps easily between people - although it has not yet shown the ability to do so - has killed 16 Thais since H5N1 swept across parts of Asia in late 2003.


The World Health Organization, which reported at least 134 people dead from bird flu worldwide before the latest Thai death, said the virus continues to circulate in poultry.


Underscoring that fact, Indonesia became the nation hardest hit by bird flu Monday after local tests detected the 43rd human death in the vast archipelago.


Additional tests are needed to confirm the result, but normally reliable tests at a local laboratory showed that a 16-year-old boy who died late Monday had the virus, said Santoso Suroso, director of Jakarta's infectious diseases hospital.


The death brings Indonesia's human bird flu tally to 43, nearly a third of which have occurred over the last year. Neighboring Vietnam is the second worst hit at 42, but it has not recorded any new deaths this year.


Indonesia grabbed world attention in May when seven members of a single family died of the virus - the largest recorded cluster to date. The WHO concluded that limited human-to- human transmission likely occurred, but the virus did not spread beyond blood family members.



REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS

[ruthbeme]

Re: Thailand declares Bangkok, one third of country disaster zone to fight bird flu

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=460 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=246 height=20>


</TD><TD class=t11red align=right width=214 height=20>UPDATED: 08:18, August
09, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=465 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=t18>Thai government declares 29 provinces as bird flu disaster zone</TD></TR><TR><TD align=right><SCRIPT language=javascript><!-- drawline1(); //--></SCRIPT><SCRIPT langage="javascript"> printResizeButton(); </SCRIPT> </TD></TR><TR><TD>
Thailand's government on Tuesday declared 29 central and northeastern provinces as bird flu disaster zone as part of measures to curb the epidemic, government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee said.
The caretaker cabinet also approved the creation of "chicken death squads" responsible for terminating infected birds as well as all poultry within a one-kilometer radius of any future bird flu outbreak site.
Quoted by Bangkok-based newspaper The Nation, Surapong said the declaration would make it easier for government to provide compensation to farmers whose birds must be killed.
Caretaker Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said the government will give tests on chickens in an area within five kilometers from an outbreak site to check the spread of bird flu. Four new mobile labs will be set up across the northern and central provinces to conduct the tests.
The government also issued strict measures for another 30 provinces, requiring vehicles and equipment to be disinfected before traveling between farms.
Thailand has reported two human fatalities from bird flu this year, both in northern provinces.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>http://english.people.com.cn/200608/...09_291146.html