Poultry with bird flu suspicion
July 25th, 2006
A group of chickens in a northern region of Thailand is suspected to have died last week as bird flu carriers, with the H5N1 strain being feared as the source of infection, a Thai official from the Ministry of Agriculture declared. The death of 31 chickens in the province of Phichit lead to tests being carried out on the birds. Initial findings however, could not pinpoint the virus between H5N1 and a more common form of H5N2. However, the high mortality rate gives reasons to believe the highly pathogenic H5N1 form is to be blamed for the disease which caused the death of the poultry. Thailand has not had any case of bird flu in poultry for more than 8 months. Government officials say they are closely monitoring areas where heavy rains and flooding have taken place, as wet climates represent a perfect environment for avian influenza.