Thailand, one of Asia’s largest poultry exporters, said on Wednesday it is free of the bird flu epidemic that has swept parts of Asia, but said hundreds of thousands of chickens have died from cholera and bronchitis.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchob told reporters that checks have been carried out across 23 of Thailand’s 76 provinces and no evidence of avian influenza has been uncovered.
”I can offer reassurances that there is no outbreak of bird flu in Thailand. There is only bronchitis and fowl cholera, not the bird flu,” Newin said.
”The ministry checked farms across 23 provinces and did not find any evidence related to bird flu in any single area.”
More than 200 000 chickens have died of outbreaks of fowl cholera and bronchitis since November, however, and another 200 000 have been culled to prevent the spread of the diseases, he said.
He blamed the outbreaks on a sudden change to cooler weather in the kingdom. The Ministry of Agriculture also said it has taken the precautionary measure of banning imports of poultry from any country affected by bird flu. Vietnam, Japan and South Korea have so far reported outbreaks.
An official from the Ministry of Commerce said that Thailand does not import poultry, so the ban will have little impact.
Newin nonetheless said he ordered quarantine officials to be vigilant at airports in Bangkok, northern Chiang Mai and southern Hat Yai.
Thailand’s poultry industry is worth an estimated 10 billion baht ($250-million) annually.
The independent Kasikorn Research Centre said in December that Thailand was estimated to produce about one billion chickens in 2003. At that time, the deaths of 170 000 chickens due to the outbreak had affected 0,02% of the industry, the centre said.
The World Health Organisation has confirmed that the deaths of three people in Vietnam were caused by the H5N1 avian influenza virus.
Tests were still ongoing to determine if the virus was responsible for the deaths of nine other children there since mid-October. — Sapa-AFP