Chickens in Thailand not infected bird flu

cctv.com 01-16-2004 09:27

Thai agriculture officials are to carry out random checks on poultry nationwide for the so-called "bird flu" virus, in an effort to kill speculation that the country is in the grip of an outbreak.

An estimated half a million chickens have died on farms in the central region in the past month. The government is blaming an unrelated disease called "fowl cholera". At a news conference, the Deputy Agriculture Minister, Newin Chidchob, said measures were in place to prevent the present outbreak from spreading any further. He said all dead chickens were being burned or buried. And he said live chickens being raised in affected areas were not being allowed to be moved elsewhere. He stressed the government's contention that bird flu was not present on Thai farms.

The possibility of an outbreak is especially worrying to Thailand because it is one of the world's leading chicken exporters. Public concern has been heightened since poultry sales usually boom before ceremonies linked to the Chinese New Year festival, which is to be celebrated next week.

Editor:Zheng  Source:CCTV.com