Thailand Delays Declaring Itself Free of Bird Flu

Thailand has delayed for a second time its plan to declare the country free of bird flu after a new outbreak of the virus was found, a government official said on Tuesday.

Thailand has delayed for a second time its plan to declare the country free of bird flu after a new outbreak of the virus was found, a government official said on Tuesday. “We could not announce that the country is free of bird flu as a new fresh outbreak has been found at a chicken farm,” said Yukol Limlamthonbg, head of Thailand’s Livestock Development Department. “We will need to wait for another 21 days to ensure the virus is under control, then we can announce it,” Yukol said. The outbreak was found in chickens at a farm in the northern province of Uttraradit on April 19, Yukol said. The Agriculture Ministry had originally hoped to announce that the country was free of the virus on April 9. Eight people have died from the disease and about 35 million chickens have been culled. Vietnam declared itself free of the disease on March 30, after it killed 16 people in the country.(Source: Reuters Health News, April 2004)