Bird flu hits China, Thailand

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Asia has been hit by another bout of bird flu, with reports of cases in chickens in both Thailand and China.

On Wednesday Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchob told Reuters Thailand has two new outbreaks of the H5N1 bird flu.

And nearly four months after the Chinese goverment claimed victory over the disease, officials have confirmed a new outbreak in a central province.

Earlier this year, the bird flu ravaged Asia's poultry industry and jumped to humans in Vietnam and Thailand, killing 24. About 100 million chickens across the region were slaughtered to halt its spread.

"The lab test results have come out and confirmed that it was H5N1 at two farms in Ayutthaya and Phathum Thani," said Newin, referring to towns near Bangkok.

Thailand on Wednesday declared two "red zones" around affected farms where authorities are culling thousands of chickens.

Authorities have slaughtered more than 8,000 chickens on the farms and the outbreaks in the areas had been brought under control, Newin said.

"So far, chickens have died only at the two farms," Newin told Reuters.

"We have been monitoring all areas throughout the country 24 hours a day."

Thailand, the world's fourth-largest chicken exporter, slaughtered more than 40 million birds in a bid to eradicate -the virus earlier this year. The virus killed eight people in the southeast nation.

In China, chickens on a farm in Chaohu, Anhui province, about 300 kilometres (180 miles) west of Shanghai, have died of the virulent H5N1 strain and agriculture officials ordered the culling of all poultry within a three-kilometer radius.

An agricultural bureau official from the province said the source of the outbreak had been sealed and said migratory birds had spread the virus.

In nearby Hong Kong, authorities have suspended imports from Anhui. The city is a big consumer of chickens from the mainland.

A spokesman for the World Health Organization in Beijing said a new outbreak had been expected and said migratory birds could likely by the carriers.

"Migratory birds are a pretty common reservoir of avian flu, although it would be hard to confirm the link," Roy Wadia said.